Advocates seek $30 million to compensate ranchers for wolf attacks

California Farm Bureau announced that The California Farm Bureau and other advocacy organizations representing ranchers and rural residents joined in a letter to ask for $30 million in the 2026-27 state budget to fund the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Wolf Program. The program was created to ensure livestock production is not jeopardized by California’s recovering gray wolf population. California Farm Bureau and others have been successful in pushing to fund the Wolf-Livestock Compensation Program at $5.3 million since 2021. There are currently 10 recognized wolf packs in the state and additional areas of wolf activity. Last year, ranchers saw a significant increase in livestock depredations by the apex predators, which are protected under state and federal endangered species acts.