HERMISTON, OREGON (RFD NEWS) — There is a growing call to delist the gray wolf from the Endangered Species Act, as producers across the Western U.S. report increased livestock depredation and push for more localized management.
Dave Duquette, founder of Western Justice, joined us on Wednesday’s Market Day Report to discuss the issue and efforts underway to return wolf management to the states.
In his conversation with RFD News, Duquette outlined Western Justice’s mission, describing its work to protect ranching, rodeo, and the western way of life. He also discussed producers’ concerns about livestock losses and changes in herd behavior attributed to wolf activity.
“The big thing that comes to bear with bringing the ranchers into this scenario and trying to delist is that food security is national security,” he said. “This administration is very pro food security and national security. So, with that, if you go back and look at the historical data with Emma Kervins, the Diamond A, their historical death loss is probably… they’re pushing their cattle up into mountain meadows, and it takes them three days to push them up there. Well, when they get up there, they’re getting depredated so badly by the saturation of wolves up there, Northeast Washington, that their normal death loss—probably one to two percent a year—now it’s 10 to 12 percent, up to 20 percent in some herds.”
Duquette emphasized that the issue is not about eliminating wolves, but about management, advocating for state-based approaches tailored to regional conditions.
“We don’t have a wolf problem—we have a wolf management problem,” he said. “Nobody wants to see them all gone, but you can’t have them saturated in one area because you don’t have the right amount in another area.”
He explained that their multi-state coalition is one of many groups working to address the issue and why localized control could help alleviate the challenges ranchers face.
“When these wolves are getting so habituated to eating cattle and depredating cattle, like in Northeast Washington, the ranchers can’t go out and shoot or kill their cows—they don’t have help from the state or the government,” Duquette explains. “If they would kill a couple of them or make it hard on them, they go up in the mountains. Prime example: Idaho, Montana, Wyoming—they’re not depredating a bunch of cattle there. You know why? Because they have seasons on them. Wolves are smart. They go up in the mountains. They don’t even fill 1 percent of the tags that they issue, because wolves are smart—they’re hard to get.”
The worst part, in Duquette’s opinion? Not enough people are talking about it. And he wants people to understand the harsh reality that ranchers face in protecting their livestock and livelihoods.
“The worst part is that nobody’s talking about it — except for the one guy that was in the video you showed the clip of—the open rates,” he said. “These cattle are getting harassed so badly, but by the time they get brought down and they preg-check them, they’ve got a 20 to 35 percent open rate. So you couple that with the death loss, that’s 40 percent of a calf crop lost. It’s putting people out of business all over right now.”
Duquette shared what he sees as the next steps in the process and how viewers can learn more, noting that wolf management is one of several issues Western Justice is working to address.
“We’re calling for the federal delisting so that the states can put together a good management plan, and people can address those situations,” Duquette explains. “The best lead: our non-lethal deterrent is a lethal means of taking care of it.”
Finally, he highlights the group’s new documentary, “Wolves: True Conflict,” which showcases firsthand accounts from producers impacted by wolf management policies and the realities faced in affected communities.
Watch the full trailer below:
LEARN MORE: www.westernjustice.info
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