Plumas County cattle ranchers have been complaining about the effect of wolves on their livestock since the Lassen Pack was identified in 2017. Today they are seeking an emergency declaration due to a “significant threat” to public safety caused by wolves.
The resolution before the Plumas County Board of Supervisors April 15 would grant authority to the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office to investigate wolf incidents, declare a specific wolf “a public safety threat,” and authorize its “removal.” Plainly put, sheriff’s deputies could shoot and kill wolves under specific circumstances, said Plumas County Supervisor Dwight Ceresola.
“We can chase them and holler but we have to stop at our fence line.”
Dwight Ceresola, Plumas County supervisor
A rancher himself, Ceresola said it’s high time ranchers are given the tools to protect their own livestock. “What’s going on isn’t working. We can chase them and holler but we have to stop at our fence line.”
State officials review wolf management plan
The supervisors’ proposed resolution comes just as state officials are acknowledging the ranchers’ complaints about the growing number of wolves. Earlier this month the California Department of Fish and Wildlife launched “Phase 2” of the state’s 2016 Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California. It calls for a review of the status of wolves statewide and an evaluation of the “legal pathways” for allowing for more aggressive forms of discouraging wolves in an area. Currently ranchers can use such techniques as flashing lights, sirens and flaggery as legal forms of hazing wolves.
Phase 2 is triggered when state biologists document four breeding pairs in two consecutive years, said Kaitlin Talbot, a spokeswoman for CDFW. A breeding pair is defined as two adults with two or more pups surviving until the end of their second year. Five of the state’s seven packs met CDFW’s definition of a “breeding pair” in 2024, Talbot said.
In a telephone conversation April 14, Ceresola called the CDFW’s review “a very weak start.” And it’s long overdue, he said.
He has been encouraging the board to explore a stronger response to the state’s wolf management program. The supervisors’ two-page resolution cites CDFW’s confirmation of 14 head of Plumas County cattle killed in wolf attacks. It also mentions three confirmed depredations in March, “more than any other month since records have been kept.” The proposed resolution does not state where these depredations have occurred or the age of the cattle involved.
Declaring a specific wolf “a public safety threat”
If four-fifths of the supervisors approve the resolution, it would grant authority to the Plumas County Sheriff’s Office to investigate wolf incidents, declare a specific wolf “a public safety threat” and authorize its “removal.”
“This resolution is not a call for widespread lethal control, but a request for the establishment of reasonable, focused tools that allow rural communities to respond to legitimate threats in a responsible and lawful manner,” the proposed resolution states.
Modoc and Sierra counties have already approved similar resolutions. State biologists are investigating the killing of seven farm animals in February and March in Modoc County. Sierra County has no confirmed livestock deaths due to wolves. In neighboring Lassen County, officials have reported eight kills in the month of March, though not all have been confirmed by the state. The Lassen County Board of Supervisors has asked state officials for help ensuring public safety.
Reported uptick in wolf kills
State officials have documented at least 50 wolves in California. Just how many are in Plumas County is hard to say, said Talbot in an email to The Plumas Sun. Three packs straddle the county line with Shasta, Butte, Lassen and Sierra counties. Two others are close by in Lassen County. State biologists have also identified three Plumas County areas where they have documented wolves but have not confirmed the presence of pups. Another fourth such site is just over the line in Lassen County,
According to census numbers Talbot provided for the end of 2024, Plumas County has at least 13 wolves and likely more, said Talbot.
What’s driving emergency resolutions in Plumas and its neighboring counties is a reported increase in the number of livestock killed by wolves. In 2024, CDFW participated in or worked with federal and local authorities and livestock producers to conduct 79 investigations.
In Plumas County, anecdotal information provided by ranchers suggests at least four kills in the past two months. Ceresola said three additional possible kills are currently under investigation.
Amoroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate for the Center for Biological Diversity, openly questioned a recent increase in wolf kills. She used CDFW quarterly reports to document 54 confirmed kills in 2024, 18 of them in the last quarter of 2024. In the first quarter of 2025 she reported 11 likely wolf kills based on CDFW data. That’s seven fewer than the previous three months.
Weiss said the recent high-profile concern over livestock losses to wolves may be caused by OR-158, a lone wolf that killed at least eight cattle in Oregon. State officials exhausted every means available to capture and relocate the wolf before asking federal officials to shoot it.
Both state and federal laws make it illegal to kill an endangered species, which includes the gray wolf, said Talbot. However, federal law includes an exception that allows someone to kill an endangered animal in defense of their life, or the lives of others. It was invoked to authorize killing OR-158.
CDFW investigates every report of a wolf killing livestock, said Talbot. Last year 80% of its investigations were conducted the same day the loss occurred.
“Each wildlife conflict case is different and requires different approaches. In the case of endangered species behaving inappropriately or causing potential threat to communities, CDFW will work with local law enforcement and federal partners to determine what next steps, interventions, or educational opportunities may be needed,” Talbot said.
Public safety and wildlife
In addition to losses to livestock businesses, Ceresola said increased wolf activity is contributing to a reduction in local wildlife. That affects businesses countywide by reducing the number of hunters and tourists, who flock to the area to watch wildlife, he said. The last local deer count was done in 2018, said Ceresola. He and other local officials are asking to increase the bases for removing wolves.
Assessing the effect of wolves on various wildlife species in California is complicated, said Talbot. As wolves expand their distribution in California, CDFW is working with partners, including the California Wolf Project, to assess the relationships and interactions between wolves, native deer, elk and other carnivores.
“Our ongoing approaches include studying the diet of several wolf packs and landscape-scale camera grids for studying the co-occurrence of wolves and other species,” Talbot said.
“People absolutely have a right to defend themselves.”
Amoroq Weiss, Center for Biological Diversity wolf advocate
Ceresola also cited threats to public safety as a reason to increase local authority to kill wolves. Some ranchers are afraid to send their teenagers out to feed the cattle because of the presence of wolves, he said.
Weiss said the rumor that people are helpless to protect themselves against wolves is false. “People absolutely have a right to defend themselves. Anything to the contrary is simply not true,” she said in a telephone interview with The Plumas Sun.
Plumas County supervisors are scheduled to consider the wolf resolution after 10 a.m. April 15.
