Shasta County Declares Local State of Emergency Over Gray Wolf Threat
[Image from CDFW]
On May 13, 2025, the Shasta County Board of Supervisors adopted a resolution declaring a local state of emergency in response to increased gray wolf activity, including confirmed livestock attacks and growing concerns from rural residents. The resolution, sponsored by District 3 Supervisor Corkey Harmon, follows similar emergency declarations by neighboring counties such as Modoc and Lassen.
In addition to the declaration, the Board approved a formal letter to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), requesting urgent assistance in protecting public safety, livestock, and private property from expanding wolf populations. The letter also calls for increased flexibility in enforcement and consideration of emergency regulatory changes.
“This is not just a ranching issue — it’s a public safety issue,” said Supervisor Harmon. “These wolves are showing no fear of people and are attacking livestock near family homes. We need better tools and immediate action to keep our rural communities safe.”
Since late 2024, multiple cattle and livestock deaths in eastern Shasta County have been confirmed to be caused by gray wolves. Some local reports describe wolves exhibiting uncharacteristically bold behavior, including killing without feeding — indicating a growing threat beyond predation alone.
The Board’s resolution urges CDFW to consider relocating or, if necessary, euthanizing wolves that pose an imminent danger. It also requests the state provide greater authority to local sheriffs to investigate wolf incidents and take action when necessary.
Former Supervisor Mary Rickert, who has long advocated for the agricultural community, expressed support for the County’s action.
“Ranchers in Northern California have worked hard to coexist with wildlife,” said Rickert. “But when policies ignore the realities on the ground, rural families are left vulnerable. This resolution is a call for balanced and practical solutions.”
Shasta County is urging residents in rural areas to report wolf sightings and take proactive steps to protect their land and livestock. For safety tips, deterrent methods, and reporting links visit https://bit.ly/ShastaWolves.
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I believe it’s an over reaction, and exageration of any threat by wolves, other than an occasional cow killing on open range land. how are they showing ‘no fear’ ? and livestock killing near homes ? i’d like to see real stats, not hyperbole.
You could look it up easily. Although if it suits, just dismiss the idea without documentation.
“7/31/2024 – Sierra County – Confirmed Wolf
8/2/2024 – Plumas County – Confirmed Wolf
8/22/2024 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed Wolf
8/22/2024 (2) – Siskiyou County – Confirmed Wolf
8/26/2024 – Siskiyou County – Non-Depredation & Unknown
8/27/2024 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed Wolf
9/2/2024 – Lassen County – Confirmed Wolf
9/4/2024 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed Wolf
9/6/2024 – Tulare County – Probable Wolf
9/17/2024 – Tulare County – Non-Depredation
9/17/2024 – Lassen County – Confirmed Wolf
9/18/2024 – Lassen County – Confirmed Wolf”
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Updates/october-2024-depredation-reports
Selected reports
10/18/2024 – Siskiyou County – Unknown
12/07/2024 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed
12/17/2024 – Siskiyou County – Non-Depredation
12/17/2024 – Siskiyou County – Non-Depredation
12/18/2024 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed
12/19/2024 – Siskiyou County – Non-Depredation
12/23/2024 – Modoc County – Confirmed
12/31/2024 – Shasta County – Non-Wolf Depredation
1/26/2025 – Tulare County – Non-Wolf Depredation
1/29/2025 – Plumas County – Confirmed
2/9/2025 – Modoc County – Confirmed
2/15/2025 – Modoc County – Confirmed
2/18/2025 – Modoc County – Non-Wolf Depredation
2/18/2025 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed
2/26/2025 – Modoc County – Confirmed
2/28/2025 – Shasta County – Confirmed
3/1/2025 – Modoc County – Confirmed
3/4/2025 – Tulare County – Possible
3/5/2025 – Siskiyou County – Confirmed
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Updates/march-2025-depredation-reports
Interim report-
3/7/2025 – Plumas County – Confirmed
3/7/2025 – Siskiyou County – Probable
3/13/2025 – Plumas County – Confirmed
3/13/2025 – Siskiyou County – Non-Depredation
3/14/2025 – Lassen County – Confirmed
3/15/2025 – Lassen County – Probable
3/16/2025 – Plumas County – Confirmed
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Updates/april-2025-depredation-reports
Totally predictable…
official lists 19 cattle kills in the last year, with 3 million available in a deprivation – compensation fund. they were here first, along with the state animal (now ‘extinct’) grizzly bear. it doesn’t say how many were open range lease land cattle, as opposed to private ranch land cattle ‘killed’. i say give them some slack and space.
Link to your stats. Because the lists I found gave 28 in 7 months with part of September and most of October missing. One of the issues is wolves do not adhere to human ideas of space.
Oh wait. I think i found it. “Wolves were responsible for at least 19 cattle deaths statewide between October and December 2024, according to the state’s quarterly wolf report.” If so that’s 3 months. Not a year.
https://wolf.org/headlines/gray-wolves-in-california-blamed-for-19-livestock-deaths-what-happened/
K9 kills are pretty obvious. So every ”possible” is a CDFW just being soft on wolf kills.
They have to be taught fear. They are no different than the human criminals who are coddled and allowed to run amok in California.
Wait until the Grizzlies are wandering around taking what they please
Yup. Should release the wolves and grizzlies in SF/LA.
Those are the folks that want them anyway.
That would be entertaining. Don’t feed the bears signs in Golden Gate Park. Sacramento could use a few (it was their natural habitat).
Wait until the other cookie-cutter development homeowners move in, rework the entire landscape and want dead anything furry that can hop over a fence no matter how small.
Wolves do not kill just to be killing.
Though there is a term called surplus killing when they kill more than they can consume, but this is a survival tactic.
They are doing this. No mater how much science you toss at it.
If the State wants to keep the wolves as is, why doesn’t CDFW just compensate for confirmed kills? Probably cheaper than relocation or euthanasia.
Money, money, money… wolves kill a lot of stock.
“In 2021, the California State Legislature appropriated $3 million to CDFW to develop a Wolf-Livestock Compensation Pilot Program to help minimize the impact of wolves on livestock producers based on the following areas of need (prongs): Direct livestock loss (prong 1); Nonlethal deterrents (prong 2); Pay for presence (prong 3). An interim program was launched to receive applications for Prong 1 in February 2022 and Prong 2 in May 2022. The pilot program for compensation of all three prongs launched in June 2023 and ran until funds were exhausted in March 2024.”
“Due to the limited funds available to support the Wolf Livestock Compensation Program, CDFW is prioritizing direct loss compensation at this time, and is not seeking applications for non-lethal deterrents (Prong 2) or pay for presence (Prong 3).”
And the process for claiming compensation is byzantine.
https://wildlife.ca.gov/Conservation/Mammals/Gray-Wolf/Grants
Wolves also save a lot of money- and lives.
“The new study said that the presence of wolves, maligned by ranchers whose livestock suffers predation, also can save money by indirectly reducing deer-vehicle collisions. In 2008, a study for the U.S. Department of Transportation estimated those crashes cost more than $8 billion annually… once wolves colonize a county, deer vehicle collisions go down about 24%” https://apnews.com/article/wolves-business-deer-science-environment-and-nature-90a1504254242227e9aa2b326f3fa383
I see corporate-farm interests weigh heavily in that malignment. They’d rather their “offices” be scraped clean of anything and everything, that is, a sterile work place for dirty things. Predators have always been an issue, but there’s a bit of symbiosis too; predators keep numbers of small, ground-dwelling animals reduced, thereby keeping grazing areas clear of holes and dens that will break cattle legs and ankles. Take prairie dogs for example. Their wards and coteries can cover square miles and if every natural predator is exterminated, they get out of hand and take over active grazing areas, putting livestock at risk. There’s a balance, but predators have to be in the mix. No bullets or poisons needed for control, really. Nature can balance itself, but better to work with it rather than against it.
Really? This is what you came up with? “Wolves scare deer and reduce auto collisions 24%, study says?” You know what else scares deer? Hunters. The day hunting season opens, deer disappear from view. “The deer population in Michigan has been steadily increasing, leading to a rise in deer-related car crashes, according to experts. The Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) attributes the growth in deer numbers to a decline in the number of hunters, which has dropped from 800,000 to 600,000.”
“Depending on where you’re at in the state, deer numbers have increased, especially in the southern lower part of the peninsula,” said Samantha Courtney, a deer biologist with the Michigan DNR. Courtney explained that fewer hunters result in fewer deer being harvested, and many hunters are not targeting antlerless deer, contributing to the population surge.”
One big problem BTW with the beneficial wolf thing is that the vast (like 1000s and 1000s more) majority of deer car crashes occur in dense population area. Places that wolf packs will need to expand into as their prey disappears? And where will that lead? Oakland Co for example includes Detroit.
“The majority of the crashes occur in the southern half of the state, with 2,250 in Kent County, 2,009 in Oakland County, 1,652 in Jackson County, 1,511 in Ottawa County and 1,500 in Lapeer County in 2022.
The growing problem follows decades of declining hunter numbers contributing to a declining deer harvest.”
Well mountain lions have thinned deer here already.
Lyme disease has been a factor in the decline of hunting in Michigan and other areas.
My husband stopped hunting as he got older and also once wasting disease hit NorCal.
IMHO: Not may deer left in NW California.
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Dope growers, forests burned to ashes by USFS policies, runaway Mountain Lion population… and in the future greenies will add Wolves and Grizzly bears.
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Yee hah !
Not many deer left in NW CA? What planet are you on?
rubbish!
^^ This. The state and ag insurance do compensate for losses. They’re aware that a herd of anything is never going to be 100% safe, when your business is 5000 acres, not 5000 square feet. There are some things that ranchers already do to to minimize losses (e.g. having llamas as a live-on protection against coyotes). I don’t know what taxes already pay into those compensation packages, but they ought to be more than just “pilot” programs, rather permanent, if wolf pack, et al, numbers are going to be enhanced. That would be more fair.
It’s not likely that would happen. Did you read about the “three prongs” of compensation? CDFW only is paying for direct kills because the money ran out. But there are other losses they recognize but can’t afford to fund now.
“One wolf can cause between $69,000 and $162,000 in direct and indirect losses from lower pregnancy rates in cows and decreased weight gain in calves;
Total indirect losses are estimated to range from $1.4 million to $3.4 million depending on moderate or severe impacts from wolves across the three packs;
72% of wolf scat samples tested during the 2022 and 2023 summer seasons contained cattle DNA; and
Hair cortisol levels were elevated in cattle that ranged in areas with wolves, indicating an increase in stress.”
https://www.ucdavis.edu/food/news/novel-study-calculates-cost-cattle-ranchers-expanding-wolf-population
“And the process for claiming compensation is byzantine.” FALSE!
Not too sure of your education level, but the process is very simple.
It’s a two-page PDF file you fill out and attach your most recent livestock sales receipt confirming your “price per pound” request for compensation. The whole process took me about 15 minutes. I received my check in four weeks. Oh yeah, you have to email it to: [email protected]
If you don’t know how to send email, I can understand how daunting the task may seem.
“And the process for claiming compensation is byzantine.” FALSE
The process for claiming compensation is very simple.
It took me about 10 minutes.
It’s a two-page PDF form you email to: [email protected]
You attach your livestock sales receipt indicating the price per pound you are requesting. I received my check after about four weeks.
Why do you say it is “byzantine”
You left out some important details. When did you submit your paperwork? Last year or 4 years ago? Seems those programs are out of money now, so what’s getting compensated?
This is the actual form that your e-mail link goes to, which opens your e-mail provider, not actually link to the application form. Yes the process might have been simple to you but it’s more than two pages, as defined by this very important note within it:
Livestock producers with livestock that have been injured or killed by wolves, as verified by the Department, may apply for livestock loss compensation (Prong 1). The Department compensates for confirmed and probable wolf depredation.
There’s more paperwork than just two pages involved to apply. It’s right on the application. I’m glad you were compensated in a PILOT program that is now out of money. But it’s not quite as simple as you make it nor does Yabut come across as some moron that can’t figure out a PDF or an Excel file.
How many cows are killed each month by humans? What’s your point? Humans wiped out or displaced the cervids which wolves would naturally feed upon. Humans now use that land to graze their cows, to feed other humans, who are (increasingly) becoming more and more obese. See any obese wolves? Your comments and statistics are hollow if you only believe the land is made for humans and not other creatures, here and on the planet as a whole. The cows being killed . . . consider it a rent payment to the wolves and other critters who feed on the remains. Pay it back, is my point.
Why should ranchers be compensated for confirmed kills? They are degrading land resources in pursuit of profit. They should be responsible for protecting their livestock by having manageable herd sizes.
Worked hard to coexist with wildlife = not done anything at all.
If you want to run massive numbers of head unprotected by shepherds or livestock guardians or fences or barns, then you have to accept losing head to wildlife.
The ignorant times of depredation for the soul sake of profits is coming to an end.
Attempting to spin this as a safety issue for humans is pathetic and dishonest.
Tell us you don’t know anything about livestock management without saying it. Also profit seeking whether it’s via cattle or tofu isn’t coming to an end.
Between 2000 and 2024 the CDFW confirmed 145 instances of wolves killing or injuring livestock.
In that same time range the CDFW list 123 instances of wolves being killed because they killed their injured livestock.
This is according to the Gray Wolf updates on CDFW web pages.
It is estimated that there are over 5 million head of cattle and California.
You can do the percentage math.
Compensate the ranchers for confirmed livestock kills or injured, but we should all rejoice at the return of the wolf. What a noble creature.
” Rednecks for wilderness”