Farm Groups to Remain on Gray Wolf Panel

Posted by Ag and Food Law Blog

Posted June 20, 2014

California Farm Bureau Federation (CFBF) and California Cattlemen’s Associations (CCA) leaders have decided to remain involved with the wolf management plan, despite their beliefs the wolf’s listing takes away options for protecting livestock, according to a Capital Press article by Tim Hearden available here. The Dallas Chronicle also published an article available here and KCET here.

Noelle Cremers, the CFBF’s natural resources and commodities director, said that she has known that there was a chance the wolf could be given protections under the California Endangered Species Act.

“I have always believed that what is best for livestock producers is also better for wolves, so if livestock producers have a broad set of tools at their disposal to protect their livestock, that will help train wolves to stay away from livestock,” Cremers said. “They are better off in wilderness areas where they’ll have no interaction with human activities.”

Maupin rancher Keith Nantz, president of the North Central Livestock Association, and Dufur Gap Road rancher Mike Filbin, one of the largest cattlemen in Wasco County, are seated on the committee, according to the Dallas Chronicle.

“This state needs to allow more flexible management of wolves,” said Nantz. “We are not against wolves but right now there’s no middle ground and no balance. Wolves are propagating and doing whatever they want and we need to make sure that our ranchers are compensated fairly for losses.”

In February, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife recommended against a vote to list the wolf, according to KCET.

The 3-1 vote took place shortly after two biologists with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed the presence of two wolf pups in an area that previously had not been bred in decades.

For more information on environmental law, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.

 

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