Conservation Northwest

Homecoming for wildlife Story by James Rogers Photos by Lauren Owens A new answer For wolves in Washington Lloyd Self never expected to be working with wolves, but at 5 am every morning Self crawls out of bed and starts his laptop. He pulls up satellite-tracking data collected from the night before. Only a few days before was his first time ever laying his hands on a computer. He was ambivalent about the machine at first, he said, but with his daughter's training, it has become one of his most valuable tools. The map on his screen shows movement points, transmitted every six hours, from a tracking collar installed on a 2-yearold male wolf by the Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife. Based on the map, Self knows the six members of the Teanaway wolf pack, one of a dozen confirmed wolf packs in the state, are most likely at their den site a few miles away. Without the computer and the satellite data, Self said, he would have almost no way of effectively tracking the wolves. Self is the range rider hired jointly by Conservation Northwest, the Department of Fish and Wildlife, and Sam Kayser, the rancher who personally picked Self for the job. As range rider, Self 's job is to prevent conflict between the cattle and the wolves in Washington's Teanaway Valley near Cle Elum by tracking the wolves, herding the cattle on horseback and keeping a watchful eye on their relationship. Approximately 250 calf and cow pairs (amounting to 500 head), all owned by Kayser, live and graze freely day and night on the 48,000 acres to which Kayser has access. Range riders Range riders are a new answer to the wolf issue in Washington State. In places like Idaho, Montana, and Alberta it has been successful, said Conservation Northwest's Okanogan County outreach associate Jay Kehne. So far, range rider programs in the state have had positive results. Ranchers have seen decreases in losses of cattle to wolves and other predators. Whether or not the system will work in the Teanaway region, however, is unknown. Once Self is finished with the computer, he steps out onto the porch of his cabin and breathes in the morning air. Summer rain from the night before has left the air humid. Self starts a small fire and rests a pot of coffee on a grate over the flame. He pulls out a cigarette and lights it on one of the burning logs. For more than 35 years, Self has driven cattle and he dresses the part. At 53, Self looks like a classic Marlboro man. After taking a drag of his cigarette, he sits next to his uncle, Gary Slack, who is visiting him for the next few days. "Even in your own family you are cowboy, Lloyd," said Slack, with a laugh when asked about Self 's knowledge of cattle. One of the main reasons Self was picked as the range rider for this region is his extensive experience living, working, and hunting for years in the Teanaway. When he explains the location of a place, he does it with a list of landmarks pulled from his own experience. Between creeks (in his classic western drawl he pronounces them "criks"), ridges, and hills he can verbally paint a map of the valley. After coffee around the fire, we all pile into his pickup. Self wants to take us closer to the wolf den. On the ride, we discuss some of the concerns raised about the Teanaway wolves. Many Teanaway residents worry about wolves killing their dogs and cats while hunters in the region worry about wolves eating up elk and deer populations. A lot more people are moving to the area, Self said. He is concerned that more people living here might mean more conflict with wolves. "The thing that worries me is that somebody and their little dog is going to get close to a kill [site] and then things are going to go south," Self said. 16 Fall 2013conservationnw.org

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