The ranchers' tradition of moving up into the mountains with their cattle and sheep for the summer has died away in much of the West. Few now have the money or the human power to keep a herder on the range full time, but a fledging movement in Montana may change that. Range Riders is a pilot project that seeks to test the idea that the presence of humans near livestock around the clock will act as a deterrent to predators, specifically wolves, and keep them from attacking cattle, sheep and other domestic animals.

The summer of 2004 was the first season herders were employed full-time under the Range Rider program. Two people were hired by the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group, in conjunction with the Predator Conservation Alliance and a number of other groups, to spend five months with 1,700 head of cattle in the Antelope Valley of southwestern Montana.

In the previous year, 11 wolves had been killed in the area because of livestock conflicts. With the range riders in place, no livestock were killed by predators and no predators were killed by humans. “We are not touting this as the final solution for every place. We know this is not tested,” says Janelle Holden, coexistence director for the Predator Conservation Alliance. “But we hope this will be seen as one way to avoid lethal predator control.”

After the success of the first summer, the Madison Valley Ranchlands Group hired two more riders for the 2005 season. In addition, in Boulder Valley, Mont., three riders have been hired. For more information go to the Predator Conservation Alliance web site at http://www.predatorconservation.org/

OTHER SOLUTIONS TO COEXISTING WITH PREDATORS

• The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) is a voluntary conservation program for farmers and ranchers that promotes agricultural production and environmental quality as compatible national goals. EQIP funds have been used to pay for herders for livestock in wolf country. For more information: http://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/eqip/

• Defenders of Wildlife’s Bailey Wildlife Foundation Wolf Compensation Trust is reimbursing ranchers for livestock losses due to wolf predation. The goal of the program is to “shift economic responsibility for wolf recovery away from the individual rancher and toward the millions of people who want to see wolf populations restored.” For more information: http://www.defenders.org/wolfcomp.html

• The United States Fish and Wildlife Service offers a program that provides training, permits, and less-than-lethal munitions (rubber bullets, bean bags and cracker shells) to landowners for hazing wolves. The idea is to keep wolves from becoming too bold. Approximately 200 permits have been issued under this program to date. For more information contact: Ed_Bangs@fws.gov

• Living in Bear and Lion Country Workshops are offered by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department free of charge to the public each spring. For more information contact: Dave.Moody@wgf.state.wy.us