Patrick Griffin, Siskiyou County livestock–wolf liaison, told the Board of Supervisors the county has experienced a substantial number of confirmed wolf depredations since wolves began killing cattle in the county in 2022 and urged action to secure longer-term compensation for ranchers.

"Over the last few years ... there's been 78 confirmed depredations and 9 probable confirmed," Griffin said, adding that wolves are protected under state and federal listing and that lethal take is restricted. He told the board a compensation program currently has $600,000 appropriated for direct loss reimbursements and that about $100,000 has been spent to date.

Griffin and supervisors discussed options to increase payments and to change how compensation is calculated. Griffin said Oregon is moving toward a multiplication factor for confirmed losses — "about to establish a five-times multiplication factor" — that would multiply the market value of a confirmed loss to better reflect the broader economic harm to producers. He said the county previously used a pilot program that paid for deterrents and deterrent costs but that funding for that work had ended.

Supervisors expressed concerns about the rapid local impact — including indirect losses such as weight loss, pregnancy problems and reduced reproductive performance — and urged the county to press state and federal agencies for action. One supervisor urged the board to "push on the state's lack of initiative" and to consider a status-review petition under the California Endangered Species Act; Griffin said a status review was due after the 2017 listing and could influence delisting timelines if the population meets criteria in the state wolf plan.

Board members and Griffin also discussed notifications and data sharing. Griffin said the notification system has improved and that daily alerts and cluster points are now being provided; he said a buffered public-access mapping tool with some delay is expected to be rolled out by the agency. Supervisors asked for more timely, usable data and for coordination with federal land managers and public-lands grazing managers.

On funding, several supervisors and speakers urged state-level support. One supervisor suggested the state should create a multi-million-dollar compensation fund; Griffin said the current $600,000 appropriation is insufficient and recommended exploring stable streams of funding and a higher multiplication factor for confirmed losses to better compensate ranchers.

The board did not take a formal regulatory action during the discussion but directed staff and supervisors to consider drafting letters and working with regional and federal partners to press for compensation and management changes.

The discussion included technical and public-safety considerations, disease-handling precautions during captures, and the utility of trappers and drone monitoring in the county's response.