For the week of May 14 - 20, 2003

Saving wolves
by saving cattle

Wolf guardians enter third year

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Meeting Tuesday

Defenders of Wildlife will hold an informational meeting on its wolf guardian volunteer program Tuesday, May 20, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the Environmental Resource Center in Ketchum.

For information, contact Laura Jones at [email protected], or at (208) 424-9385.

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By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Write

In the summer of 2001, 32 volunteers from seven states gave birth to a new concept in wolf management when they spent wide-eyed nights deep in Central Idaho’s White Cloud Mountains trying to protect wolves from their natural instincts.

Montana State graduate student Liz Bradley volunteered last year to help string a fladry line, which is supposed to deter wolves from passing through a fence. Courtesy photo

Now entering its third year, Defenders of Wildlife’s wolf guardian program is looking for volunteers interested in spending a few weeks in Idaho’s backcountry to help deter wolves from preying on sheep and cattle, an action that often effects their own death sentences.

"Hopefully we’ll have nothing to do," said wolf guardian program director Laura Jones. "If we have nothing to do, that means the wolves are out of trouble. So, hopefully, we’ll be twiddling our thumbs."

However, as Idaho’s wolf population climbs upward each year, conflicts with livestock and ranchers are also on the rise. Wolves were reintroduced to Idaho in 1995 and 1996, and obstacles to the program’s success are said to be almost entirely social rather than biological.

While wolf guardian efforts concentrated on protecting livestock in the White Cloud Mountains in 2001, emphasis shifted last year to the mountains and ranches around Salmon, where conflicts have been consistent since 1996.

In 2001, from June through late September, volunteers used human hazing and radio-activated guard boxes, called RAG boxes, to deter wolves from preying on sheep. RAG boxes are designed to frighten radio-collared wolves using strobes and ear-piercing sounds.

Three miles of fladry lines—ribbon-tied strings derived from Europe that are designed to frighten wolves—were strung, and transportable electric fencing was maintained.

"After the Wolf Guardian project started, no more wolves were killed due to depredation, and the sheep were safe," said Cheri Beno, one of the first-year volunteers. "I’m very proud of my involvement, and of all those guardians who worked hard and made a difference. They made it work."

Last year, volunteers strung a 1,000-acre ranch near Salmon with 6 to 9 miles of fladry and worked to haze advancing wolves. For most of the summer, the psychological barrier appears to have worked.

"While I was there, they never broke through the fladry and came onto the ranch, which was a good thing," said Anita Trigalet, who volunteered for 12 days in mid-July.

Though wolves eventually crossed the fladry, researchers are calling the experiment a success and said fladry could become a widespread temporary measure ranchers could use during calving season, as an example.

Trigalet, from Tulsa, Okla., said she has always been fond of the outdoors and found the wolf guardian program to be a good fit for her.

"The scenery was just unbelievable," she said. "Being up on the mountain like that was just unbelievable, with breathtaking views. And to hear the wolves howl in the wild was probably the best thing for me."

Jones admitted the jury is still out on whether the wolf guardian program is successfully deterring wolves from killing livestock.

"I can’t say we’ve found the one solution that’s going to stop depredations," Jones said. "The effectiveness is really a case-by-case situation as far as the conflicts going on with the packs. Sometimes we’re trying our best, but it’s a no-win situation."

But another of the program’s benefits is as a public relations tool for the often-polarized ranching and wildlife advocate communities.

"We made some really great connections with some ranching families up there. The stereotypes started to break down, and the polarization began to disappear," Jones said.

Defenders of Wildlife also helped pioneer the use of economic incentives to promote protection of endangered species on private lands, and experts credit The Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust, which pays livestock owners for losses to wolf predation, as one of the most important factors contributing to the recent reintroduction of wolves to the Northern Rockies.

Since wolves were reintroduced in 1995, Defenders has paid sheep and cattle ranchers in Idaho, Montana and Wyoming $263,088 for losses. That includes $149,455 in Idaho for nearly 300 confirmed and probable depredations on cattle and sheep.

Through the compensation program, Defenders has also shared the cost of purchasing livestock guard dogs and hay and has provided alternative pasture to keep livestock a safe distance from wolves with dens. The organization has purchased predator deterrent electric fencing and hired range riders.

 

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