Anxiety grows as wolves rebound in Methow Valley

Then, in midmonth, another cattleman had to quickly — if temporarily — find a new place to run his cattle because wolves were living among the sage and pines where they usually graze.

Word of both incidents spread rapidly through the Okanogan County hills, becoming just the kind of lore that has followed wolves across the West.

Less than a year after the state's first gray-wolf pack in 70 years took up residence east of the North Cascades near Twisp, ranchers, some environmentalists and government agencies are struggling to tamp down rumors and make sure livestock producers and this mysterious predator coexist in relative peace.

But anxiety among some is already mounting.

"We don't see them as the warm and fuzzy creatures others do," said Twisp-area rancher Vic Stokes. "Wolves are a force to be reckoned with for us."

Biologists last summer confirmed that a wolf pack had settled southwest of Twisp, but they aren't sure how many now reside in or around the Methow Valley.

Two adults and a pup have been seen in recent weeks, but tracks through snow last winter suggest up to five animals were traveling together. The adult female wolf is now likely denning with new pups.

Genetically, these new arrivals appear to have worked their way south from British Columbia, where wolves have been less likely to key in on livestock as prey, focusing instead on small black-tailed deer, even salmon, and other marine species. Rocky Mountain wolves tend to feed on much larger deer and elk — or sheep and cattle.

Yet the transition to living with these new predators has been rocky for some.

In February, after a bloody wolf pelt was found stuffed inside a FedEx box bound for Canada, state and federal wildlife agents began investigating Okanogan County rancher Bill White and his son. The son admitted killing the federally protected animal though the circumstances are in dispute, according to a search-warrant affidavit. No charges have been filed.

"There were a lot of people pretty upset by that incident, but reaction runs the gamut," said John Rohrer, a Forest Service biologist based in the Methow Valley. "Most people support having wolves here, but there's a pretty big minority who really fear the unknown."

For several weeks in May, news that a wolf may have killed a cow rattled the region's cattlemen — even though an environmental group, Defenders of Wildlife, has promised to reimburse ranchers for livestock proved to have been killed by wolves.

When experts examined the decomposing cow May 22, it had been so worked over by scavengers that there was little left but hide and hip bones.

Even so, "there was nothing about the carcass to indicate that wolves had anything to do with it," said Doug Zimmer, a spokesman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. "The unfortunate reality is that cows die all the time from a lot of things."

But by then ranchers were abuzz about another conflict. The Forest Service had informed Twisp rancher Gary Maxwell that he could not turn his cattle out on Libby Creek, where he'd held a permit to graze on public land for a decade.

An Idaho-based environmental group, the Western Watersheds Project, said the federal agency had not properly evaluated the risk Maxwell's grazing operation posed to wolves denning nearby. The group said it feared wolves that made easy prey of cattle could, themselves, wind up dead.

"It's much better to prevent and avoid that situation," said the group's director, Jon Marvel, known for his sometimes-caustic interactions with ranchers.

Maxwell, who said he had an unpleasant telephone exchange with Marvel, said he paid $240 a day to find temporary last-minute grazing lands while the Forest Service quickly assessed his operation.

Last week, the agency appeared to have reached an arrangement: Maxwell could again let his cattle roam, provided he made a few relatively simple changes — such as not disturbing wolf sites, quickly removing sick or injured cattle and shifting his grazing season by a few weeks.

By then his situation had become a flash point with other ranchers.

"It's got us all concerned," said Craig Vejraska, an Omak rancher and former Okanogan County commissioner who lives a 35-mile drive away. "Wolves have a big range and it's just a hop, skip and a jump until they're causing trouble in our valley."

The Forest Service acknowledges that wolves appear to be here to stay and that sooner or later other conflicts could surface. But many remain confident that the valley's ranchers and Canis lupus can live together.

"Ranchers have been part of this community for generations, and a lot of them have been really great stewards," said Jay Kehne, with the environmental group Conservation Northwest. "When a wolf moves in, of course there's more concern. But just because there's a wolf pack in an area doesn't mean you can't ranch."

Said Mitch Friedman, with the same organization, "There are probably 100 ways we can resolve these conflicts. It's just going to take some time and patience."

Craig Welch: 206-464-2093 or cwelch@seattletimes.com