[The fox is guarding the henhouse, so to speak. And I thought those tracking collars were only meant to be used for scientific purposes…]
http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2013/nov/10/cattle-ranchers-track-wolves-with-gps-computers/
Cattle ranchers track wolves with GPS, computers
Becky Kramer The Spokesman-Review
COLVILLE – Before the sun breaks over the mountains, Leisa
Photo Copyright Jim Robertson
Hill is firing up a generator in a remote cow camp in eastern Stevens County.
Soon she’ll be poring over satellite data points on her laptop, tracking the recent wanderings of a GPS-collared wolf.
Hill is a range rider whose family grazes 1,300 head of cattle in the Smackout pack’s territory. Knowing the collared wolf’s whereabouts helps her plan her day.
She’ll spend the next 12 to 16 hours visiting the scattered herd by horseback or ATV. Through the regular patrols, she’s alerting the Smackout pack that cattle aren’t easy prey.
Her work is paying off. Last year, 100 percent of the herd returned from the U.S. Forest Service allotments and private pastures that provide summer and fall forage. This year’s count isn’t final, but the tallies look promising, said Hill’s dad, John Dawson.
“We’ve lost nothing to wolves,” he said.
Hill’s range rider work is part of a pilot that involves two generations of a northeastern Washington ranch family, the state and Conservation Northwest. The aim is to keep Washington’s growing wolf population out of trouble.
Last year, government trappers and sharpshooters killed seven members of the Wedge pack for repeatedly attacking another Stevens County rancher’s cattle.
That short-term fix came at a high political price: The state Department of Fish and Wildlife received 12,000 emails about the decision, mostly in opposition. Two wolves have again been spotted in the Wedge pack’s territory, either remnants of the original pack or new wolves moving in.
It upped the ante for all sides to be proactive.
Ranchers can’t fight public opinion
Many Washington residents want wolves, said Dawson, a 70-year-old rancher whose son, Jeff, also runs a Stevens County cattle operation.
“I can’t fight that,” John Dawson said of public opinion. “You have to meet in the middle; you have no choice.
“We put most of our cattle in wolf territory for the summer,” he said. “I’ve been trying to learn as much as possible about wolves so we can meet them at the door.”
For ranchers, “it’s a new business now, a new world,” said Jay Kehne of Conservation Northwest, a Bellingham-based environmental group that works on issues across Washington and British Columbia.
Conservation Northwest supported last year’s controversial decision to remove the Wedge pack. “We wanted to do what we felt was scientifically right, what was supported by the evidence, what people knowledgeable about cattle and wolf behavior were telling us,” Kehne said.
But the organization obviously prefers preventive, nonlethal measures, he said. Conservation Northwest had talked to Alberta and Montana cattle ranchers who use range riders and was looking for Washington ranchers willing to try it. The Dawsons were interested.
Conservation Northwest helps finance three range riders in Washington – the Dawsons in Stevens County, and others in Cle Elem and Wenatchee.
Hiring a range rider costs $15,000 to $20,000 for the five-month grazing season, Kehne said. The state and individual ranchers, including Dawson, also contribute to the cost.
In addition, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife provides daily satellite downloads on GPS-collared wolves to help range riders manage the cows.
Collared wolves are known as “Judas wolves” for betraying the pack’s location.
The downloads give the wolves’ locations for the past 24 hours, though the system isn’t foolproof, said Jay Shepherd, a state wildlife conflict specialist. Dense stands of trees can block signals, and the timing of satellite orbits affects data collection.
Last winter, the state captured and collared three wolves in the Smackout pack. One of the collars has a radio-based signal that can be detected when the wolf is nearby. The other two wolves received GPS collars. One of the collars has stopped working. The remaining GPS collar is on a young male that doesn’t always stay with the pack.
Ranchers must sign an agreement to access the satellite downloads. “They understand it is sensitive data that’s not to be shared,” said Stephanie Simek, the state’s wildlife conflict section manager.
GPS tracking adds a high-tech element to modern range riding, but much of it is still grunt work. The Smackout pack’s territory covers about 400 square miles. John and Jeff Dawson’s cattle graze 10 to 15 percent of the pack’s territory, but their range encompasses the heart of it.
Leisa Hill’s work starts in early June, when the cows and calves are turned loose on Forest Service allotments and private pastures. The range riding continues through 100-degree August days and wraps up in early November after the first snowfall.
She travels nearly 1,000 miles each month by horse and ATV through thick timber to reach scattered grazing areas. She watches for bunched or nervous cows, as well as sick or injured animals that wolves might consider easy prey.
She’s also alert to patterns in the wolves’ movements. Regular visits to a particular site probably indicate the presence of a carcass.
Hill has fired noise-makers to scare off adult wolves that were in the same pasture as cows. Last year, she spotted four wolf pups on the road.
The 46-year-old prefers to stay in the background, declining to be interviewed for this story. However, “the success of this range rider program is because of Leisa,” her father said. “She knows the range and she understands cow psychology.”
Skinny calves mean a financial loss
On a recent fall morning, John Dawson drove a pickup over Forest Service roads past small clusters of Black Angus, Herefords and cream-colored Charolais cows with their calves.
The cows were just how he likes to see them: relaxed, spread out and eating. Calves should be putting on 2 to 3 pounds a day.
“When they’re not laying around, resting and eating, they’re not gaining,” he said.
Dawson heard his first wolf howl in 2011, the year before the range rider pilot started. He and his son lost seven calves that summer, though they couldn’t find the carcasses to determine cause of death.
The remaining calves were skinnier than usual. They probably spent the summer on the run from wolves, or tightly bunched together and not making good use of the forage, Dawson said. For ranchers, skinny calves can be a bigger financial blow than losing animals.
Say a rancher has 500 calves and they each come in 40 pounds lighter than normal. At a market price of $1.50 per pound, “that’s a bigger loss ($30,000) than losing seven calves, which is about a $5,000 loss,” he said.
Over the past two years, the Dawsons have seen robust weight gain in their calves. They credit the range rider program.
Earlier this year, Jeff Dawson and Shepherd, the state wildlife conflict specialist, talked with Klickitat County cattle ranchers. Wolves have been spotted in south-central Washington, and some of those ranchers are starting to experiment with range riders.
“The success the Dawsons have had has gone a long way to helping promote nonlethal means and proactive measures to reduce conflict,” said Jack Field, the Washington Cattlemen’s Association’s executive vice president.
If ranchers take extra steps to protect their animals, the public is more likely to accept the occasional need to kill wolves that repeatedly attack livestock, said Conservation Northwest’s Kehne.
John Dawson and his wife, Melva, spent decades building their ranch, working other jobs while they grew the herd. To preserve that legacy, the family was willing to try new ways of doing business, he said.
“I think (range riding) would work for a good share of other ranchers,” he said. But “they have to be open-minded enough to want it to work.”
Exposing the Big Game 
They have a similar program of range riders for the Mexican grey wolves in Arizona and New Mexico. Some of the ranchers are also give VHS receivers to allow them to know when wolves are near, so they can haze them away. A few ranchers are trying to make an effort to get along with wolves, but their voices are being drowned out by the noisy, mean, uneducated anti-wolf crowd.
Thanks for keeping your adjectives civil. I would have been tempted to describe them as the obnoxious, evil, inbred anti-wolf crowd.
Some of the people in NM with VHS receivers may have used them to find and kill wolves too. No proof just a lot of missing wolves and a lot of strident anti-wolf sentiment.
Right, why should we trust them?
The question is whether people privy to this data are betraying the animals to others or killing the wolves themselves. A big part of the problem in places like Idaho is the “SSS” (shoot, shovel and shut-up) mentality. If these people are using the GPS data to track and kill wolves (or sharing the data so others can do so), they should be subject to much more serious penalties that ought to include huge fines, a lifetime loss of hunting and or gun permit privileges and mandatory jail time.
Using GPS data to kill wolves should be seen as the equivalent of”first degree murder” since clearly the intent to use the data in a way completely inconsistent with the right to have the data (prevention of conflict) has been done.
Exactly. And unfortunately a lot of ranchers and trophy hunters in Eastern Washington have SSS ant-wolf attitudes just as ingrained as their counterparts in Idaho.
It is good to see some good come out of wolf collaring but the ranchers do not belong on public land and we should fight to retire grazing permits, 23,000 of them in 16 western states. If they are on public land living with wolves and grizzlies and lions should be required. Death of predators and continuing encroachment should not be the price. Every time a predator is “managed” on public land it should be part of the story.
Also, collaring is allowing USDA, USFWS and state agencies to easily find wolves and kill them.
This is bullshit. The only thing that might stop Washington from going the way of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming and the other kill states would be a complete re-staffing of WDFW by the Governor. Why they are even making a pretense of caring about public opinion is kind of interesting, though.
Can you imagine how much forage would be available to wildlife if cows were removed from OUR public lands?
Fish populations would also benefit because OUR streams and riparian areas would once again be capable of supporting larger fish populations. Presently streams in cow country are degraded by these 1000 lb crap machines which trample stream banks, crap in the water, and eat the riparian vegetation.
Sportman’s groups should be active in protecting their hunting and fishing by advocating livestock removal from public lands.
Jerry, you should know Sportsmen’s Groups would much rather look for a reason to kill, not heal. And there is nothing they would rather kill than a wolf!
The jury is still out on GPS tracking reports but maybe, instead of a wolf, put the collars on the damn cows! Maybe then they will know where their cows are? A collared wolf is a dead wolf if it is a radio collar, that needs to stop! The hounders have antennas to find radio collars, you KNOW that can’t end well!
I am with you on the stopping of grazing non native species on public lands, not just cows but sheep and goats, too! But as long as there is public grazing, we sure should put in those contracts ‘at your own risk’ and with range rider only. The Ranchers are just now figuring out they can’t win the wolf killing argument with the public. So I am curious if they are trying a new method of ranching or just new PR? Or both? One thing is certain, we should be able to vote on the use of our public lands, the windfall days of mega-ranching need to be over. I have nothing against small family farms with a couple of cows they milk by hand and feed inside an enclosed area that is wolf-proof. Just throwing cows out on thousands of acres is stupidly irresponsible! All cows mean to ranchers – money. It is a forgone conclusion these cows will die, the question is, on who’s schedule? Wolves/nature/disease or the slaughter house?
Thank you Jim for getting the truth out! There has been much debate about the Collars and we have all known for years that the collars have been used to track the wolves not only for research but also by poachers and then to be killed “legally”. Then denied by the wolf-killers. It’s about time we all speak up and get loud, I have started to put a thread out showing the connection about Koch Brothers and AFP and the movie they have out called “wolves in Govt.” asking all the Republicans to sign petitions to demand the wolves be unlisted because they are spreading ANTHRAX. Unreal, the lies and fear the movie is trying to spread. Also, having people put up kid cages to protect them from wolf attacks! Here is a few links for you to see. Its time for us to combat these fools. I am letting people see the corruption, we need to stop this landslide. Thanks friend. Roxie
Kid cages: Wolf protection or overreaction
http://www.news965.com/news/news/national/kid-cages-protection-or-overreaction/nbccF/
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http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/29/are-kid-cages-protecting-nm-children-or-case-ranchers-crying-wolf/
Are ‘kid cages’ protecting N.M. children, or a case of ranchers crying wolf?
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/29/are-kid-cages-protecting-nm-children-or-case-ranchers-crying-wolf/
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Actual threat, or anti-federalist ploy? Lindsay Abrams
http://www.salon.com/2013/10/29/parents_are_using_kid_cages_to_protect_their_children_from_wolf_attacks/
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Parents are using “kid cages” to protect their children from wolf attacks
http://www.alternet.org/progressive-wire/parents-are-using-kid-cages-protect-their-children-wolf-attacks
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Inside the Psyche of the 1% — Many Actually Believe Their Ideology of Greed Makes for a Better World
http://www.alternet.org/visions/inside-psyche-1?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark
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Who dares confront the anti-wolf mob?
http://www.jhnewsandguide.com/opinion/columnists/the_new_west_todd_wilkinson/who-dares-confront-the-anti-wolf-mob/article_535bee0f-bcc7-5dfe-8e0d-635e584b1617.html
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Such groups include the Centre to Protect Patients Rights (CPPR), a group vigorously opposed to both abortion and Obamacare as well as social pressure groups and a think-thank policy group that works closely with the GOP Koch Brothers Secretly Funding Anti-Choice Movement http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/koch-brothers-secretly-funding-anti-choice-movement
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Koch brothers poured tens of millions of dollars into anti-choice movement http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2013/11/06/koch-brothers-poured-tens-of-millions-of-dollars-into-anti-choice-movement/
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@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ KOCH BROTHERS~~~~~ ALERT!!!!!!!!!!! Wolves in Government Clothing http://www.gilbertwatch.com/gilbertwatch/index.cfm/blog/wolves-in-government-clothing1/
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Americans for Prosperity – California !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! https://wolvesingovernmentclothing.eventbrite.com/
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http://afpcalifornia.eventbrite.com/
OMFG!!!!!!!!!!! [ DO NOT SIGN =]
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) has been transformed from a balanced conservation policy to an instrument used to pursue radical environmental agendas. Abuses of the ESA have led to thousands of job losses, hundreds of terminated projects, and countless invasions of private property rights. It’s time for United States Congress to reform the act
Read more: http://americansforprosperity.org/california/special_project3/reform-the-esa-petition/#ixzz2jxxivV68
http://americansforprosperity.org/wisconsin/
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Wolves in Government Clothing
The United States Fish & Wildlife Service has placed wolves in populated areas where they have become an economic burden for small business owners, infringed upon private property rights, burdened taxpayers with management costs, and placed fear in the hearts of those who have to deal with them on a daily basis.
Read more: http://americansforprosperity.org/california/#ixzz2jxzas000
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Wolves in Government Clothing
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Outrageous: Kid Cages at School Bus Stops Americans for Prosperity California is asking our 150,000 state members to send a message to Washington, D.C. – California Can’t Afford Wolves.
Read more: http://americansforprosperity.org/california/legislativealerts/outrageous-kid-cages-at-school-bus-stops/#ixzz2jy0f62bc
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>>>Are ‘kid cages’ protecting N.M. children, or a case of ranchers crying wolf? http://www.foxnews.com/us/2013/10/29/are-kid-cages-protecting-nm-children-or-case-ranchers-crying-wolf/
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KOCH BROTHERS SITE
1 day ago
http://americansforprosperity.org/
Ty Jim, Will get this posted on care2 !
thanks for spreading the word!
Reblogged this on Wolf Is My Soul and commented:
As if we didn’t suspect this was a well-known fact all these years
I just don’t trust most people with that kind of information.
I know there ate good ranchers but most ranchers and private interest groups are out to cull Wolves from the face of the earth.