When Rep. LaMalfa stood on the House floor to push H.R. 845—the bill to delist gray wolves—he name-dropped our backyard: “There are wolves encroaching on elementary schools in Siskiyou County. This is not a little red riding hood story… This is very real.”
Suddenly a rural school with 87 kids and a view of Mt. Shasta is trending in DC talking points.
The bill passed the House, arguing wolves have recovered enough to lose federal protection. LaMalfa says outdated ESA rules are “victimizing” ranchers and leaving communities like ours defenseless. Critics call it political theater that guts conservation.
We’ve covered the trail cams, the livestock losses, the nervous parents at bus stops. But now the stakes are higher: our local wolf sightings are being broadcast as either a public safety crisis or a manufactured bogeyman, depending on which party you ask.
The Senate still has to vote. Meanwhile, Little Shasta Valley Elementary keeps teaching. And the wolves? They don’t know they’re now a federal case.
What’s your take: legitimate threat or rural legend co-opted for politics?
