McGarva responds to Willow Creek Ranch Harvey Pack attack with a letter to the California Natural Resources Agency

Lassen County Sheriff John McGarva wrote a letter today to Wade Crowfoot, secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency, again asking “for the means to intervene and protect those in my county from a problem wolf pack that has clearly become an increasing threat.”

McGarva’s letter comes after an attack at the Wolf Creek Ranch that killed a 600-pound calf and injured a family horse named Smoke badly enough it had to be euthanized.

McGarva wrote the Hanson’s pasture is “immediately adjacent to the main residence,” about a dozen yards away from a children’s playground at the residence.

“Upon completion of the investigation, no evidence was present to show this was a kill for food or sustaining life by the wolves,” McGarva wrote. “These attacks were purely for the act of killing … On Jan. 3, the Sheriff’s Office received a report of another wolf depredation on the Hagata Ranch located just to the southeast of the Willow Creek Ranch. This incident, the calf appeared to be eaten or at least violently attacked. This was within close proximity to the main residence of the ranch as well. This has been attributed to the nearby Harvey Pack as well.”

According to McGarva’s letter, “Lassen County has experienced 45 depredations with 42 of them confirmed to be by the nearby wolf packs. With the exception of a few, these have been attributed to the Harvey Pack. In late October, seven kills were made by this pack in the Termo-Grasshopper area of the Lassen County. The Hanson’s alone have experienced 11 depredations. This pack has become a widespread threat to the producers in Lassen County. The pack appears to be expanding their territory into a larger area of Lassen County.

“With the majority of the producers removing their cattle for the winter, the wolves have predictably begun to encroach on the residential areas of the ranches as their livestock has been moved closer to home. This is situation that was totally foreseeable and often presented by sheriffs in counties where wolves are known to be present.”