A Gray Wolf Visits Nevada County: What Ranchers Need to Know

On June 9, 2018, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife detected a signal from OR-54, a female gray wolf that had been collared in Oregon, near Andesite Peak in Nevada County (Andesite is southwest of Castle Peak, near the Sierra Crest). OR-54 had been traveling through the Sierra-Cascade range for several months; her foray into Nevada County marks the first know wolf in our part of the Sierra Nevada in over 100 years. While she appearst be traveling alone, she has since returned north to Sierra County; however, she'd been covering as much as 18 miles per day. She may well return southward as the summer progresses.

While ranchers are legitimately concerned with the potential impacts from gray wolves, other more common predators (like mountain lions, coyotes and black bears) can be more problematic in our region. And predators can have indirect impacts (like decreased weight gain, poor reproductive performance and added labor) in addition to causing direct losses.

In collaboration with my colleague Tracy Schohr (the livestock and natural resources advisor for Butte, Plumas and Sierra Counties), I have developed the following fact sheet to help ranchers understand and document these impacts:

Documenting Predator Impacts on Livestock

In the meantime, please contact our offices - or your local agricultural commissioner or wildlife services specialist - if you have specific questions!