Lassen County Sheriff John McGarva sent a letter dated January 5, 2026 to California Natural Resources Agency Secretary Wade Crowfoot detailing escalating wolf depredations and requesting state intervention.
The letter describes two recent incidents on ranches north of Susanville. On January 1, deputies responded to the Willow Creek Ranch on Horse Lake Road where a horse named “Smoke” and a calf were attacked by wolves. A USDA-APHIS Wildlife Services trapper was already investigating when deputies arrived.
The horse sustained a six-inch by four-inch avulsion on its right hind quarter, with tissue torn away from the area. The horse was still alive but bleeding, and ranch owners Wyatt, Brad, and Jack Hansen were informed it would need to be euthanized. A federal trapper confirmed the attack as wolf depredation based on wolf tracks throughout the area. The pasture where the attack occurred is immediately adjacent to the main residence, with a children’s playground within approximately a dozen yards of the fence.
A calf weighing approximately 600 pounds was also killed in a nearby pasture, attacked at the rear inside hind quarter and near the left ear.
On January 3, another wolf depredation was reported at the Hagata Ranch southeast of Willow Creek Ranch, where a calf appeared to have been eaten or violently attacked, also close to the main residence.
Wolf tracking software indicated wolves from the Harvey Pack were present in nearby Rice Canyon the day prior to the January 1 attacks. Sheriff McGarva stated the Harvey Pack is the probable source of both incidents.
According to the letter, Lassen County has experienced 45 wolf depredations, with 42 attributed to the Harvey Pack. The Hansen family alone has experienced 11 depredations. In late October, seven livestock kills were made by this pack in the Termo-Grasshopper area.
McGarva noted that investigators found no evidence the attacks were for food or sustaining life, characterizing them as “purely for the act of killing.”
The sheriff referenced a March 2025 letter he sent to the California Department of Fish and Wildlife requesting intervention with the Harvey Pack. He wrote that while meetings were held and intervention was taken in Sierra Valley, he was told the issues in Lassen County “were not as pressing and not addressed.”
McGarva expressed concern about “the health and mental wellbeing of Lassen County” residents as attacks continue, describing “a continuing and looming danger.” He called for California to follow pending federal legislation to delist the Gray Wolf from the endangered species act and allow Phase III of the state wolf plan, which would permit depredations when necessary.
The letter was copied to Maurice L. Anderson, County Administrative Officer, and Mike Fisher, Sheriff-CSSA Wildlife Committee Chairman.
One Comment
Wolves were going extinct because they kill our domesticated animals, and us. They do not coexist peacefully. Wolves belong in sanctuary and in zoos. NOT “managed” and I population increase projects across the United States where the result is dead livestock, dead pets, dead horses, and dead people. Stop the insanity.