The latest collab for California’s gray wolf comeback
The New California Wolf Project provides a peek into balanced Stakeholder-Driven progress
In another significant step forward for gray wolf conservation in California, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), in partnership with the University of California, Berkeley, has launched the California Wolf Project (CAWP).
The new project integrates UC Berkeley’s expertise in ecology, sociology, economics, and environmental policy while leveraging the university’s extensive network of agency, non-profit, landowner, and Tribal relationships. The CAWP team touts the use of innovative and interdisciplinary methods to gather data on wolf spatial ecology, diet, predator-prey dynamics, and recolonization within California while contributing to conflict reduction strategies for rural communities and livestock producers.
As stated in a CDFW press release on October 29, “With additional support from the National Geographic Society, CAWP brings together scientists, wildlife managers, and conservation communicators working with diverse stakeholders to better understand the social and ecological factors that shape wolf populations and inform management decisions.”
Since gray wolves returned to California in 2011 after being absent for nearly a century (largely due to eradication by ranchers), stakeholders across sectors have worked together to establish sustainable practices that protect wolves and community interests.
“Given the wolf population increases we’ve recorded in the last few years and the management challenges that have resulted, there’s no better time for this partnership between CDFW and UC Berkeley,” said Axel Hunnicutt, the State Gray Wolf Coordinator at CDFW. “There are so many important management questions relating to the ecological, economic and social effects of wolf recolonization in the state that already impact California’s ecosystems and its people. The formation of CAWP is expanding our capacity to address these questions in earnest.”
Gray wolves are protected in California under both the California Endangered Species Act and the federal Endangered Species Act, meaning they cannot be hunted, nor can they be killed due to perceived threat to or confirmed harm to livestock.
“It is exciting to see wolves back in California, but there are a lot of questions about where they fit amongst a rapidly changing landscape with new challenges for agencies and livestock producers,” Arthur Middleton shared in the press release. Middleton is the CAWP co-lead and Goertz Professor of Wildlife Management at UC Berkeley. “We hope our growing team can provide new support to those interested in and impacted by the state’s growing wolf population.”
CAWP builds on the Wolf Stakeholder Working Group and a comprehensive state-funded grant program for livestock producers facing conflict with wolves.
The story of gray wolves in California is one of unexpected revival. Once eradicated from the state by the 1920s, gray wolves reappeared in 2011, sparking passionate debate and necessitating a formal management plan. When the first wolf pack in nearly a century, known as the Shasta Pack, was confirmed in 2015, state agencies, conservation groups, and local ranchers realized the imminent need to protect what was then and is now most important to them, be it the wolves, the environment, or livestock ranching.
To foster collaboration, CDFW established the Wolf Stakeholder Working Group and invited members from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, UC Berkeley researchers, environmental advocates, ranching associations, and representatives from local communities to participate in providing recommendations for a new state wolf management plan. Their goals were many, but their mission was clear: to work towards coexistence.
According to the final Wolf Conservation Plan published in December 2016, members of the Stakeholder Working Group (SWG) were composed of “diverse organizations/interest groups with large constituencies in California covering agricultural, conservation, environmental, and hunting interests.”
The stakeholders invited to participate in the primary Wolf Stakeholder Working Group included:
Agricultural Commissioners and Sealers from Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, and
Tehama counties
California Cattlemen’s Association
California Deer Association
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Houndsmen for Conservation
California Outdoor Heritage Alliance
California Wolf Center
California Wool Growers Association
Center for Biological Diversity
Defenders of Wildlife
Endangered Species Coalition
Humane Society of the United States
Mule Deer Foundation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
Sierra Club
The Nature Conservancy
The Wildlife Society
University of California Cooperative Extension
By timely contrast, in Wyoming where the Treatment of Predators Working Group was formed in 2024 to address public outcry over a disturbing incident involving the torture and death of a gray wolf. However, the Wyoming group’s mission was undermined from the outset by a glaring lack of representation from animal welfare advocates. Instead, the group was largely composed of ranching interests, agency officials closely aligned with livestock lobbying groups, and state congresspeople who had received significant campaign contributions from the National Cattleman’s Beef Association. This lack of balanced representation resulted in little meaningful action, and public mistrust in Wyoming’s ability to manage predator species has only grown.
Here in California, one of the Stakeholder Working Group’s most impactful contributions has been the development of a Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program, aimed at providing financial support to ranchers who experience livestock losses due to wolf predation.
The California Wolf-Livestock Compensation Grant Program, initially $3 million, was funded through appropriations from the California state budget to the Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), and piloted in 2021 to provide financial assistance to livestock producers. The program operates on three main fronts: compensating ranchers for verified livestock losses due to wolves, funding non-lethal deterrents to prevent wolf-livestock conflicts, and reimbursing proactive livestock management efforts aimed at reducing depredation risks.
After the initial appropriations were exhausted in March of this year, the state has recorded that 100% of that funding was allocated to eligible livestock producers.
Last month, the grant application process was reopened with newly appropriated $600,000 in funds, signaling continued state support for ranchers adapting to the presence of gray wolves.
The California Cattlemen's Association acknowledged the progress, stating that while $600,000 is less than the association had vied for the re-upped program, any renewed funding “is a significant victory for the Association in this challenging fiscal climate.”
This is where the California Wolf Project has an opportunity to prove the effectiveness of the grant program.
“CAWP will be the first large-scale initiative to collect data from local producers regarding the effectiveness of the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program and the state’s management of gray wolves,” Hunnicutt told Wild Narrative Project. “[It is] the first of its kind in terms of integrating ecological and social science data to help shape policy.”
When we asked what makes CAWP innovative, Hunnicutt said, “In diving into the ecological impact of wolves, CAWP and CDFW have deployed hundreds of camera traps and audio detectors to survey the changes to ungulate and other large carnivore occupancy and density in areas where wolves have recolonized.”
Collaring, another component of CAWP, has provided valuable insights into wolf pack ranges and habits. “Deploying collars within packs allows us to identify sensitive sites, like dens, and to prevent conflicts before they arise,” Hunnicut explained.
This data-driven approach ensures that policy decisions are based on scientific evidence, promoting both ecological health and community security.
Diverging Paths in U.S. Wolf Management?
To date, California’s approach to wolf management differs markedly from that of other states in the Northern Rockies, such as Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, where gray wolves lack Endangered Species Act (ESA) protections. In these states, predator management often involves aggressive tactics, including sanctioned hunting and trapping, aimed at minimizing wolf populations to protect livestock.
Deep within the pages of the 2016 Final Wolf Conservation Plan, a few sentences linger with insidious suggestion.
CDFW has a cooperative agreement with the USFWS, under Section 6 of the ESA. This provides CDFW authority to manage for the conservation of federally endangered or threatened species, including wolves, within California. However, the agreement does not authorize lethal take of endangered species. If the wolf is down-listed to threatened status, CDFW may have greater latitude for management of the species.
For now, words like success and victory resonate with stakeholders across the board as California continues to allocate tax dollars to protect economic interests while systematically preserving rather than killing a keystone species.