Wolves and ranchers have a long history of conflict. Ranchers need to protect their animals and wolves need to eat.

The historical solution to the conflict was to kill the wolves. In 1843, the Oregon Wolf Association put a bounty on the animals: a three-dollar reward for each large wolf to reduce the wolf population and keep livestock safe.

But wolves are a crucial part of the ecosystem. Their presence supports biodiversity by controlling the overgrazing of elk and other prey species. The disappearance of wolves from an environment has extensive

implications, making them a keystone species. By 1978 wolf populations around the state and across the country were so low that they were declared endangered.

Today, wolves are back in Oregon, having been taken off of the Federal Endangered Species list in areas east of Highway 395.

And unlike their predecessors, modern wolves and ranchers are figuring out how to coexist. Oregon ranchers are forbidden from killing wolves except in very extreme circumstances, and they must resort to non-lethal methods of scaring the predators away from their herds.

Sometimes wolves will break off from their pack, traveling many miles on their own. Wolf OR-7 became a notable example of this phenomenon when he left the Imnaha pack in northeastern Oregon, traveling over 1,200 miles to eventually cross into northern California.

In general, the methods seem to have good results for both the ranchers and the wolves: The wolf population in Oregon has climbed from fewer than 20 in 2009 to 110 in 2015, and the total number of livestock kills hasn’t increased.

“It seems to really be working in Oregon extremely well,” Suzanne Asha Stone, a senior non-lethal wolf expert for conservation agency Defenders of Wildlife said about Oregon’s non-violent approach.

In areas where wolves are federally protected, it is illegal to shoot or remove wolves. Despite wolves being off the Endangered Species list in the eastern portion of the state, ranchers can legally only use lethal force if a wolf is found in the midst of mauling, chasing, biting or killing livestock. If a wolf has been chronically killing cattle, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife will come in and remove it. But, the ODFW won’t use lethal force against the wolves until these non-lethal methods have been exhausted.

“Under the Oregon Wolf Plan, in all phases of wolf management, non-lethal preventive measures to prevent wolf-livestock conflict remain the first choice of Oregon wildlife managers,” The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s website.And while positive results have been seen, the situation creates a complicated dynamic between wolves and Oregon’s livestock industry. Farmers and ODFW have had to figure out how to keep these carnivores from preying on their livestock without killing them.

Non-lethal methods, like placing GPS collars on the wolves and tracking their movements, electrical boundaries and boxes that give off lights and noises if the wolf gets too near to the ranch are a couple methods used to scare the wolves away.

The limitations of these methods are that often the technology only works for a certain period of time, and there are certain wolves that seem immune to these methods, showing no fear of the lights or noises.

Gypsy, a Mexican gray wolf, is part of a SSP (species survival plan) at Wolf Haven International. The subspecies, which once roamed the American Southwest and northern Mexico, was pushed to the brink of extinction by government extermination programs and conflict with ranchers. They serve as an example of extreme actions and their consequences.

TRACKER

RAG BOXES

The ODFW captures wolves and places Global

Positioning System (GPS) collars on them before

releasing them back into the wild. In 2015, twenty-

one wolves were tracked using the radio collars

in twelve different packs. The ODFW will alert

ranchers when the wolves are near their land, and

ranchers also are given monitors by the ODFW so

that they can track the wolves themselves within a

certain distance.

Radion Active Guard Boxes (RAG) use a receiver to

communicate with the wolves tracking collars, and

if the wolf gets to close the RAG box will activate

sound from the loudspeakers and lights. “RAG

boxes produce a variety of alternating sounds,

which can range from sirens to gunshots to

beating helicopter blades to cowboys yelling on

horseback,” states Defenders of Wildlife’s Guide to

Non-Lethal Tools and Methods.

STROBE LIGHTS

There are a variety of automated light devices for

scaring off predators. These lights are often motion

sensored, and some give off an infrared light. “As

with any device or method, exposing predators

to lighting devices too frequently can cause

habituation and diminish or eliminate the desired

response,” according to Defenders of Wildlife’s

Guide to Non-Lethal Tools and Methods.

“It’s all new,” Hyde says of the equipment meant to prevent conflict between wolves and ranchers. “USFW brought the tracker so we could monitor his (OR-25’s) movements when he’s here. It’s got a couple mile range so we can tell if he’s in the area.”

U.S. Fish and Wildlife installed a RAG (radio activated guard) box on Yamsi Ranch in an effort to scare any nearby wolves with sirens and flashing lights. “It’s supposed to be set off by his (OR-25’s) collar when he’s in the area, but it doesn’t work worth a dang,” Hyde says. “It either goes off all the time when he’s not around or if you turn it down, it doesn’t go off at all. So that hasn’t worked.”

“We’ve got the strobe lights. They flash kind of a blue strobe,” says Hyde. “Once it starts getting dark they start coming on. They seem like they just tell the wolf where the cattle are.”

AMMUNITION

Cracker shells are used to make a loud noise, but

don’t actually hit the wolves or hurt them in any

way. Other methods of ammunition like bean bag

shells, rubber bullets and paintballs may inflict

some pain without truly injuring the animal, and

can only be used under certain circumstances in

Oregon.

FLADRY

Fladry creates a fence like barrier with flags that are

hung on rope. It can be used alongside a fence or

on its own. There is also electric fladry that will give

a wolf a small shock if the wolf touches it.

HUMAN PRESSENCE

The first thing John Hyde, an Oregon cattle

rancher, does when he gets a notification from the

ODFW that there is a wolf in the area is go out to his

livestock and guard them. “The biggest thing we’ve

found to work is just us being out there,” says Hyde.

Yamsi Ranch is located in the western wolf management zone, where the animals are still federally protected and it is illegal to harm them in any way. However, one non-lethal deterrent method is to fire a “cracker shell” near the wolf, which is essentially an M-80 explosive. Though they usually are effective at scaring off wolves, Hyde says they aren’t cheap.

These colorful flags, called fladry, are another non-lethal method that ranchers are using to scare wolves away from their fields. Though an electrical current also runs through the wire, John Hyde is reluctant to rely on it, saying the current loses its strength the farther it has to go. On large pastures like the ones at Yamsi Ranch, its application is limited.

Hyde points to a coyote roaming in his herd. He says, it’s often worse to shoot a “resident” coyote because they tend to leave the cattle alone, choosing to hunt rabbits and ground squirrels instead. But if you remove that animal, new coyotes that aren’t as in tune with the cows will likely move in, causing problems with the herd. He’s quick to say that a problem coyote can be handled, unlike a problem wolf.

Bio-fencing involves using one wolf’s feces and urine to mark a territory and keep other wolves away. A University of Montana article states, “Wolves, like most canids worldwide, use scent-marking (deposits of urine, scat, and scratches at conspicuous locations) to establish territories on the landscape and avoid intraspecific conflict.” Ranchers can use the scent of a captive wolf that can be purchased through facilities.

Dave Ausband is a researcher with Idaho Fish and Game who has done studies on bio-fencing. He noticed sheep continually grazing near a site where wolves would meet. “We went out and put some bio-fence in between the sheep herd and where we knew the wolves were, and that was the first time in a few years that we didn’t have depredation on those sheep,” says Ausband. He does admit that one of the limitations he admits to is how much upkeep it takes. “The labor on it, you can’t just put it out and it’s done. You got to keep after it. It’s hard on the open range obviously because the cows are spread out, the wolves are spread out.” says Ausband.

BIO-FENCING

In November 2015, wolf OR-25 killed one calf and wounded two others at Yamsi Ranch. “There’s a lot of people that just don’t think they need to be shot, but that’s your paycheck,” says Hyde. “It’s like going into the store and stealing someone’s product off their shelves. That’s what he’s doing.”

OR-25, a loner wolf who broke from his pack in the Wallowa mountains, has been terrorizing the Yamsi Ranch since November 2015 when he first appeared in Klamath falls.

When he first came around, Klamath ODFW wildlife biologists Tom Collom and Jon Muir notified John and Jerri Hyde that the wolf might take some interest in the 450 cattle on their 5,000 acre ranch.

For the first few months, OR-25 stayed away. Then one day, he got into the pasture and killed two of Hyde’s 450-500 pound weaner calves and fatally wounded another, costing thousands of dollars in damage to the rancher.

“When he gets in the cattle it’s just, it makes you angry because your hands are tied, you can’t do anything. If it was a bear or a cougar or a cat or a coyote causing the trouble, just take care of the problem,” says Hyde, whose frustration is directed at that one wolf.   “We have other wolves in the area too, that have been spotted, and they’re not bothering anyone.”

According to an Oregon State University study, even the cattle that aren’t killed or physically harmed in an event of a wolf attack still suffer from symptoms similar to Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and decreased performance

after witnessing an attack. Not only do the cows get temperamental and agitated, says associate professor Reinaldo Cooke, they also wean smaller, less healthy cows.

“It’s something that has to be addressed. Being around those animals, those predators, it’s impacting the cows health, the cows performance, the calf’s health and performance, and the producers are losing money,” says Cooke. “Animals we have in Oregon are not used to being around wolves.”

Hyde has tried to scare away OR-25 through every conceivable non-lethal method, all to no avail.

He has a RAG-box on his farm that makes noise when OR-25 is near, but doesn’t seem to phase him. Hyde says the strobe lights that flash at OR-25 “seem like the just tell the wolf where the cattle are,” instead of scaring him away. He repeatedly sneaks past the fladry fence, and both Hyde and the ODFW say that the cracker shells they’ve shot at him don’t scare him away.

“You shoot at him and he just trots out there and sits there and looks at you,” says Hyde. “He knows we can’t hurt him.”

In 2013, Oregon State University published research that found the presence of a wolf can distress a herd, especially if they witness an attack. The effects of this trauma can include decreased pregnancy rates, less-healthy calves, and higher risk of disease. “Right now with the cows calving, when he (OR-25) gets in there he really stirs them up,” Hyde says. “A lot of people have had trouble getting their cattle rebred. Their conception rates will go way down just because of the stress on the stock when the wolf’s around.”

The only successful barrier they’ve found is human presence.

The Hydes guard the cows from OR-25 during the days that he’s in the area. At night, Klamath Falls Department of Fish and Wildlife biologists volunteer their presence to keep him away from the cows. Through rain and snow, after full days in the office, and without pay, they drive through the night. Back and forth, back and forth between the wolf and the cattle.

“We do it simply because the landowners didn’t do anything to ask for this trouble and they have to take care of the animals and have a business to run during the day. We’re trying to lend the help we can - which is time,” Muir said. “Our 60 hour weeks have turned into 80 or 90 hour weeks.”

The Hyde’s appreciate the help. But neither they nor the ODFW staff think the solution is viable long-term. Right now, plans are in the works to help the ranchers

sponsor an employee to keep the wolf away long-term.

“(Non-violent measures) can be an effective part of the toolkit. The fallacy is in assuming that some nonlethal method will work every time,” Muir said. “That’s certainly proven to be untrue.”

Muir says that sometimes, like with the Hyde’s, it’s also necessary to appreciate selective euthanasia as a tool for the conservation of wolves at large. Federal law prohibits any rancher or agency from harming OR-25, but if he were allowed to be euthanized, it might win good-will among ranchers in the area, and promote balanced conservation efforts, Muir says.

“We could literally be killing one to save hundreds,” Muir says. “It’s frustrating for me to see that lost in the conversation.”

Yamsi Ranch is a mixture of open pasture and wooded areas, over 5,000 acres in total. Hyde purchases grazing permits from the U.S. Forest Service that allow him to move his cattle onto government-owned land. This gives his own fields the necessary time to regrow, but as of late he’s had a difficult time keeping his animals out in the forest. “When the wolf is around, they won’t stay out there and those permits go to waste,” says Hyde.

Wolf reintroduction into Oregon is a complicated issue. There is yet to be a definitive solution that pleases both ranchers and environmentalists alike, but compromises are happening, new relationships are developing and sacrifice is being made on both ends.

Excepting the case of OR-25, non-lethal methods are seemingly seeing success with helping reintroduce wolves into the state. Though the data is still relatively new, they show that livestock kills by wolves haven’t been increasing. Situations like the standoff at Yamsi ranch show just how much effort might be behind those numbers. As an environmentalist, Stone praises Oregon’s efforts.

“These kind of issues are facing predators all over the world and especially in areas where you have endangered carnivores and predators, people learning how to coexist with them is instrumental to their long term survival,” she said. “(Oregon) early on took a lead role in becoming the real experts on the ground in non-lethal deterrence, and that’s helped them quite a bit.”

John Hyde stands at the edge of Wickiup Springs near the headwaters of the Williamson River, which flows through Yamsi Ranch. His roots run deep there; Hyde grew up on the same land that his great uncle founded in 1911.

In the Oregon Territory, the Oregon Wolf Association places

bounties on wolves, paying $3 per kill.

Wolves become scarce across most of Washington and

Oregon. Populations of elk and many other carnivores and

game animals decline similarly across the region.

Oregon issues a moratorium on elk hunting; wolves are close

to extinct in the state.

The final Oregon wolf bounty is rewarded after the animal is

killed in the Umpqua National Forest in southern Oregon.

Wolves are essentially extinct from Washington, Oregon,Idaho,

Montana, and southern parts of British Columbia.

Wolves are listed as an endangered species and receive federal

protection across the lower forty-eight U.S. states under the

Endangered Species Act.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) translocates wolvesfrom

the Canadian Rockies in Alberta and British Columbia to central

Idaho and Yellowstone Nati

The first wolf to disperse to northeastern Oregon from Idaho is

documented, a female who is captured and returned to Idaho.

1843

1850-1900

1910

1946

1978

1999

1950-1970

1995 + 1996

2000-2007 Three more wolves from Idaho are found dead in northeastern

Oregon, two of them shot.