Range Rider Pilot Project

When wolves and cattle overlap

Wolves typically hunt by testing, or pushing, a herd of animals to run, and then singling out the weakest, youngest, or oldest animals to kill. As one Alberta rancher put it, “If a calf or yearling runs when pressed by a wolf pack, they die.” Yet recent efforts by groups of ranchers in places like Alberta, Montana and Idaho show a solution. Having a human, especially one on horseback, in and around a rancher’s cattle for the entire grazing season can lower wolf-cattle incidents. It helps calm cattle and disrupts wolves’ hunting patterns. This practice is called “range riding”.

From May into October, the project’s range riders work in northeast Washington, the North Cascades, including the Methow and Teanaway Valleys, and the Colville Confederated Tribes Reservation in north-central Washington.

Ranchers employ their own range riders, often with experience working with horse and cattle from local communities. Range riding is a herd-supervision method, something that was once the norm for ranchers and cowboys, but was not consistently practiced after top predators were eradicated from western landscapes. We’re working to help ranchers bring back range riding, as well as utilizing other conflict-avoidance methods such as carcass composting, fladry (bright flagging typically hung around calving pastures, often with electrified fencing), guard dogs and special animal-husbandry techniques.

Effective, but not a “silver bullet”

While herd supervision is effective at deterring conflicts with predators, we don’t expect it to always be 100-percent successful. And we empathize that it’s an additional challenge with additional expenses 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. The goal of the Range Rider Pilot Program is to help them successfully coexist with predators back on the landscape. Along the way, we’re reducing conflicts with wolves and building tolerance for their recovery. 

Want to support this important project? Please make a donation today!

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 producers who enter into our program can receive up to $10,000 in funding from Conservation Northwest, as well as matching grants from the WDFW through a separate state program—enough to nearly or completely cover their seasonal range-riding expenses. State contributions come in part from a legislature-approved program that uses vanity license-plate sales to fund the implementation of predator-conflict avoidance efforts.

Patrolling on horseback, ATV and even mountain bike, these modern cowboys and cowgirls worked from spring turn-out until the cows came home in the fall, covering thousands of miles over the course of the season to provide a significant human presence and make sure the cattle stayed calm, healthy and kept away from wolves, the location of whom is often provided confidentially by WDFW through collar data.