Conservation Northwest

Conservation Northwest updates range riders head out partnering with ranchers Washington wolves update In May, ranchers turned out their cows for the annual grazing season. In many areas of eastern Washington, those public, private and tribal grazing allotments overlap with the territory of Washington's recovering wolf popula- tion. Where these predators and livestock intersect is where you'll find range riders sponsored by Conservation Northwest. Working on horse, ORV, foot and even mountain bike, these herd supervisors are using nonlethal methods to prevent conflicts between wolves and ranchers; protecting livestock, rural livelihoods and Washington's recovering wolves. In three years of operation and a total of nine project seasons so far, ranchers participating in Conservation North- west's Range Rider Pilot Program have not lost any livestock to wolves. Nor have they had to call in the authorities to lethally remove wolves. rough the support of generous do- nors, in 2015 we're expanding the range rider effort. is year we're working with seven ranchers on eight different grazing allotments, helping them hire six range riders to patrol these allotments in the territory of six confirmed wolf packs. From May into October, the pro- gram's range riders will be at work in northeast Washington, in the Methow and Teanaway Valleys, on the Colville Reservation, and in the Colockum area southwest of Wenatchee. Confirmed Chase gunnell Communications Manager, chase@conservationnw.org Stevens Pass wolf Biologists have confirmed it: the animal captured in a February 2015 photo by our Citizen Wildlife Moni- toring Project in the Chiwaukum Mountains between Leavenworth and Stevens Pass is a gray wolf! It's the first officially documented sighting in the area since wolves began to recolonize Washington in the late 2000s. The camera site, set to monitor for wolverines, is south of Highway 2 and roughly 75 miles northeast of Seattle. Confirmed wolf tracks were also found. Biologists believe the ani- mal is likely a dispersing wolf. An established wolf pack is not be- lieved to currently exist around the pass, though wolves have likely moved through the region previ- ously to establish the Teanaway and Wenatchee packs to the south. wolves in these areas include the Smack- out, Nc'icn, Strawberry, Lookout, Tean- away and Wenatchee packs. Ranchers employ their own range riders, oen experienced horse and cattlemen (and women) from local communities. Range riding is herd su- pervision, something that was once the norm but was not consistently practiced aer top predators were eradicated from Western landscapes. While herd supervision is effective, we empathize that it's an additional and costly challenge for ranchers whose line of work is already tough as it is. We're partnering with ranchers to provide information, training and cost sharing support. e goal of the Range Rider Pi- lot Program is to help them successfully coexist with predators. Along the way we're preventing wolves from getting into conflict and building tolerance for their recovery. Between gas, supplies and pay for a skilled employee, a thorough range rider can cost ranchers as much as $20,000 per grazing season. But livestock operators who enter into our program can receive up to $9,000 in funding from Conser- vation Northwest and another $10,000 in matching grants from the Washing- ton Department of Fish and Wildlife, enough to nearly or completely cover their seasonal range riding expenses. Conservation Northwest believes Washington can be the state where natu- Above: Stevens Pass wolf on remote camera. CNW/CWMP Side: Ranchers and range riders learn about wolf behavior and tracking from Carter Niemeyer, former Wildlife Services trapper and USFWS wolf recovery coordinator. Chase Gunnell ral wolf recovery works in the long run; for people, wolves and all the North- west's wildlife. ere's still much work to be done, but the success of our Range Rider Pilot Program and the spread of range riding and other nonlethal con- flict avoidance methods in our state are undoubtedly positive notes in a polar- ized debate. 12 Spring/Summer 2015 conservationnw.org

• Cover