Wolf Desk
Ongoing reporting on gray wolf management, conflict, and governance in California.
What This Desk Covers
The Wolf Desk reports on gray wolf recovery and management in California, with a focus on how policy, funding, and enforcement decisions shape outcomes on the ground.
Our Coverage Includes
wolf–livestock conflict and depredation investigations,
state and federal wolf management actions,
livestock compensation and prevention programs,
county, state, and agency responses to wolf presence,
and the public records and data that inform — or complicate — these decisions.
Reporting on this desk prioritizes documentation over rhetoric, tracking how wolf policy is implemented across regions, agencies, and communities as the species continues to repopulate the state.
Why This Desk Exists Now
Gray wolves are returning to California after decades of absence, and the state is actively building its wolf management framework in real time.
As wolf populations expand, decisions about compensation, verification, nonlethal deterrence, and enforcement are being made under public pressure, budget constraints, and incomplete information. These choices carry long-term consequences for wildlife management, rural communities, and public trust — yet they are often reported episodically, without sustained scrutiny.
The Wolf Desk exists to provide consistent, investigative coverage of how California governs wolf recovery and conflict — documenting not only outcomes, but the decision-making processes, funding mechanisms, and accountability structures behind them.
This desk treats wolf management as a governance issue, not a cultural proxy, and reports accordingly.
Latest From The Wolf Desk
Recent reporting from the Wolf Desk, including desk notes and investigative features.
California Allocated $2M for Wolf–Livestock Compensation
A record-based look at what the budget specifies — and what it doesn’t.
→ Read on Substack
What California’s Wolf Hearing Revealed — and What It Didn’t
A synthesis of testimony, records, and unresolved governance questions.
→ Read on Substack