Conservation Northwest protects and connects old-growth forests and other wild areas from the Washington Coast to the British Columbia Rockies, vital to a healthy future for us, our children, and wildlife. Since 1989, Conservation Northwest has worke
Issue link: http://conservationnw.uberflip.com/i/104888
From discovery to recovery Wolves and livestock Can they share a landscape? When I met Joe Engelhart, my first thought was that he is best dressed cowboy I had ever met. Nice leather work boots, clean and neatly pressed jeans, vest, kerchief, and a big broad hat. He looked more like the kind of guy you���d meet at a visitor���s center in traditional attire to show the public what a Canadian cowboy looks like. But after spending the day riding the range with Joe, I quickly learned that he was the real deal. And that his attire reflects the amount of pride he takes in his work. I was in the small village of Longview, Alberta. Longview is best known for its view west toward the Canadian Rockies, for being a gateway to some stunning wild country, and for its cattle ranching heritage���producing some of the finest beef by most standards. I had journeyed north from Washington State with a film crew from the British Broadcasting Company to film a segment for the film documentary, Land of the Lost Wolves. We were there to ask the question: Can wolves and livestock really share the landscape? Is killing wolves the best solution to wolflivestock conflicts? We had chosen Alberta as our destination because wolves here had never been fully eradicated. Yes, their numbers had dropped during the fierce extermination campaign of the last century, but they were never completely gone from the landscape. And most importantly it was major cattle country. Longview, a community built off cattle, has shared the landscape with wolves, grizzly bears, and several other big toothy creatures as long as the oldest man in town could remember. So I wanted to know: How did they do it? What was their strategy? Special showing Land of the Lost Wolves, a documentary film about Washington���s wolves, aired in April in the UK and in July on the Discovery Channel (released as Man vs. Wolf). The film features Conservation Northwest staff member Jasmine Minbashian with an expedition team in the Cascades as they seek signs of our state���s first wolves, the Lookout Pack. If you missed the film, we are presenting a special showing in Seattle on November 1 at the University of Washington. Details at northwestwolves.org. You can also borrow a DVD of the film for home showing. Contact Kit at 206.675.9747 x201 to get yours! 4 ���We use public lands and the public values wildlife and wolves and we need to respect that.��� That���s how I found myself at the home of Joe Engelhart. Born on a cattle ranch in British Columbia, Joe has been running cattle his entire life. For the past decade, he has been managing a ranching cooperative on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, just outside of Longview. The livestock summer in high mountain country and winter on lower rangeland, grazing in areas where several wolf packs also live. When I asked Joe if he has lost a lot of calves to wolves, he could scarcely remember the last time it had happened. He attributes his success to a unique collaboration of 40 ranchers who have joined together to share their manpower and take turns riding one another���s cattle. Assisted by biologist Timm Kaminski of the Mountain Livestock Cooperative, they are implementing a groundbreaking program that aims to manage cattle so that they mimic the defense behaviors of natural prey such as bison. This means that they ride with their cattle at least once a day and try to keep the herd together in larger groups. Joe explained that human presence itself is really effective at deterring wolves. In fact, since the project began, they have had no cattle lost to wolves. So I could see what was involved in managing cattle to reduce predation by predators, Joe kindly offered to take me out range riding. He had picked out a horse for me, an older ranch horse who seemed to be reserved mostly for guests���mostly because he was a slowpoke. But that was fine by me. Though I have my own horse and ride every chance I get, riding the range through the steep and rugged terrain of the Canadian Rockies was not something I do every day. We saddled up and set off. Just into the ride, we spotted a bear working its way along a ridgeline to the south. Looking for the classic hump of a grizzly, I was relieved to find it was a black bear. Joe showed no signs of worry, and in fact seemed truly in awe of the wildlife he saw in his daily treks into the mountains. Fall 2012www.conservationnw.org