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/893812
Coexisting with Wolves Livestock methods help ranchers and wolves Alaina Kowitz Communications and Outreach Associate, akowitz@conservationnw.org At the end of May, I had the oppor- tunity to drive across the state to attend a low-stress livestock handling clinic in Republic, Washington. Just a hop, skip and a jump away from where I grew up, it's always refreshing to visit northeast Washington, espe - cially when it's dressed up in its spring green colors. I headed to K Diamond K Ranch, ready to learn everything I could about livestock handling and the folks who would use this method of livestock management in the Quad-County area. e clinic was led by Whit Hib - bard, a fourth generation Montana cattle rancher and former National Park mounted ranger, and Hilary Anderson, a former wildlife biologist-turned-live - stock rancher in Montana just north of Yellowstone National Park. Low-stress livestock handling (LSLH) is a livestock-centered, psychologically oriented, ethical and humane method of working livestock based on mutual communication and understanding, not coercion. Elements of LSLH include providing frequent human presence dur - ing the grazing season, keeping cattle in a calm frame of mind, reinforcing natural A Washington rancher practices herding techniques shared by Montana ranchers coexisting with wolves and grizzly bears. Photo: Alaina Kowitz will always be necessary. Around the world, working together and building understanding across stakeholder groups, indeed across cultures, has been shown to create more enduring con- servation solutions than when people go off to their corners to fight through words, lawsuits and personal threats. It takes respect, listening and a willingness to collaborate and compromise, but many folks in our state are working with herding tendencies and defense reactions, and intensive grazing rotations. Both Hibbard and Anderson employ low-stress livestock handling methods for the benefit of the livestock they raise, the landscape they use, and the other animals they share space with (includ - ing wolves and grizzly bears). While these techniques are primarily used by ranchers to create a calmer and more efficient ranching process for both humans and livestock, they're also ex - tremely effective at minimizing conflicts between wildlife and cattle as well as pro- moting sustainable range management. We provide funding that allows ranchers to hire range riders, who ride with livestock from spring turnout through fall roundup; this provides an all-important human presence through - out the grazing season and allows riders to quickly identify and diffuse potential conflicts between wildlife and livestock. Range riders are able to rapidly find compromised or injured livestock, re - move carcasses in a timely manner from the area (known as sanitization), haze threatening wildlife, and provide up- to-date information to the producer their neighbors to create a future of healthy wolf packs that can coexist with vibrant rural communities. For all the sound and fury everywhere else, Washington is where wolf recovery is being done right. It's a wildlife conservation model that oth - ers ought to follow. Editor's Note: is article first appeared as an Op-Ed in Writers on the Range, the opinion service of High Country News. COEXISTING WITH WOLVES about the state of the herd. Range riders are also able to keep cattle from scatter- ing across a landscape, which increases vulnerability to wildlife attacks. Keep- ing livestock in a herd-like state also helps cattle feel safe enough to confront threatening wildlife rather than simply flee from it. Because of these wildlife and range - land benefits, Conservation Northwest is invested in promoting these methods in Washington with our ranching partners in order to create more resilient land - scapes and peaceful coexistence between livestock animals and native wildlife. I came away from the clinic with a better grasp on how LSLH works and how it all begins with understand - ing how livestock think. It also taught me that small, thoughtful changes to thought processes —for example, shi- ing from human-focused to animal- and landscape-focused behaviors—can yield measurable and positive results for peo- ple, livestock, wildlife and the land. Editor's Note: Learn more about our Range Rider Pilot Project online at: conservationnw.org/our-work/wildlife/ range-rider-pilot-project. Keeping the Northwest wild Fall 2017 5