Three northeast Washington counties blanketed by wolf packs saw a 29% decline in cattle inventory between 2017 and 2022, a much steeper drop than in the state as a whole, according to the Census of Agriculture.

Drought, wildfires and rising production costs may have contributed to smaller herds in Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties, but wolves are likely a reason, too, Washington State University livestock professor Shannon Neibergs said Friday.

“I believe very strongly that is a factor, but to claim it’s the sole factor would be an overstatement,” he said.

The USDA counted 1.12 million head of cattle in Washington, or 2.7% fewer than five years earlier. Only about 2%, a little more than 20,500 head, were in Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties.

The region, however, is saturated with wolf packs and ranchers there have borne losses as wolves recolonize Washington.

The cattle count declined by 21.3% in Pend Oreille County, 25.9% in Stevens County and 48.4% in Ferry County, the highest percentage among the 21 counties that reported fewer cattle.

Cattle numbers increased in 16 counties. Two counties did not have counts for total cattle.

The state Department of Fish and Wildlife’s endangered species manager, Julia Smith, said wolves could cause ranchers to consider getting out of the business, but cautioned against assuming wolves are driving producers off the land.

“Wolves are always the easy culprit, but show me the data,” she said.

Rancher gives up lease

Ferry County rancher Kathy McKay told the House Agriculture and Natural Resources Committee in Olympia in January that her ranch gave up its federal grazing lease after losing 17 out of 100 cows and calves to wolves.

Historically, cattle losses were 2%, she said. “We are no longer able to graze the rangeland because the challenges and losses have become too great,” she said.

Fish and Wildlife confirmed eight attacks on cattle in the three counties in 2023. Investigators look for wolf bites. Ranchers say far more cattle are not found, or if found are only scattered bones.

Fish and Wildlife removed two wolves in Asotin County in southeast Washington in 2023 to curb attacks on livestock, but no wolves in Ferry, Pend Oreille and Stevens counties.

Wolves: A tipping point

Stevens County Cattlemen’s Association President Scott Nielsen said ranchers face a combination of problems, some of them economic and unrelated to wolves.

“I think predators are the tipping point,” he said. “It’s a tough business anyway and then you put wolves of top of that. … It’s not a success story. It’s a feeling of utter hopelessness.”

A decline in the ranching industry means a rise in 20-acre parcels with weed-control problems, said Ferry County Conservation District Manager Dave Hedrick, who serves on a panel that awards grants to range-riding programs.

Range-riding has helped, but is “more of a band-aid than a solution,” he said. “From a landscape level, it has not been difficult to see this coming for a long time.”