California is restoring its Wildlife Coexistence Program as the state’s gray wolf population continues to grow. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed Senate Bill 1135 on Tuesday, bringing back a program that lost nearly all its staff two years ago when funding ran out. The law establishes the program, but does not guarantee it ongoing funding.
A Program Rebuilt From Scratch
SB 1135, authored by state Sen. Catherine Blakespear, codifies a program that compensates ranchers for livestock losses linked to wolves, including indirect harm, and supports nonlethal ways to protect herds, such as electric fences fitted with bright flags. It also renames two existing programs to include the word “coexistence,” according to the Los Angeles Times. Blakespear said the program’s earlier collapse left the state without staff dedicated to addressing wildlife conflicts.
The staffing reductions followed the loss of funding: the California Department of Fish and Wildlife had 13 specialists working on human-wildlife conflicts, then let 12 go in 2024, according to the same report. A separate three-year state initiative offering similar services also ended when its funding ran out, the Los Angeles Times reported in April, as the bill advanced through the Legislature.
Wolves Bouncing Back, With Growing Pains
Gray wolves were extirpated from California in the 1920s and began naturally recolonizing the state about 15 years ago. This year, they produced at least 42 pups, a state record. Axel Hunnicutt, California’s gray wolf coordinator, called the continued reproduction a great sign for conservation.
Wolf activity has also brought new pressure on ranchers. The Whaleback pack in Siskiyou County was linked to 41 confirmed or probable livestock attacks this year, the most of any pack in California, according to the report. Hunnicutt, whose team includes two other employees and temporary staffers, has been working to fit more Whaleback wolves with GPS collars. The location data can help ranchers anticipate where wolves are moving and take steps to reduce conflicts.
Conflict Numbers Tell Two Stories
The reported totals vary, in part because they describe different measures. Agri-Pulse reported 196 confirmed wolf attacks in 2025, described as a state record, followed by 26 confirmed livestock deaths from wolf attacks in the first three months of 2026. A related Agri-Pulse account cited 267 suspected depredations and 198 confirmed or likely losses. Those figures should not be treated as equivalent counts of attacks; state reporting distinguishes investigations, incidents and individual livestock killed or injured.
Reading the Wolf Counts
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife’s 2025 annual report documented six reproducing packs and a minimum of 32 pups born that year. That provides a comparison for the at least 42 pups reported in 2026; pup totals alone do not establish how the number of packs or the wolves’ geographic range changed. The same California Department of Fish and Wildlife report counted 267 depredation investigations in 2025, including 175 confirmed or probable incidents. Those incidents involved 198 livestock killed or injured, an animal-loss total rather than an attack or incident count.
Ranchers Shift From Opposition to Neutral
SB 1135 does not by itself guarantee funding for the programs it creates, according to Agri-Pulse's reporting on the bill's final language. Separate budget actions did the actual paying: California provided $6 million for the programs this year, with $2.5 million earmarked for compensation. Lawmakers also approved another $2.5 million for investigations of suspected wolf attacks, wolf collaring and assessments of wolf activity in new territory, and the state's Department of Fish and Wildlife awarded the California Bountiful Foundation, the farm bureau's nonprofit arm, $1.1 million to administer compensation payments.
The funding decisions helped shift the California Cattlemen’s Assn. and California Farm Bureau from opposing the bill to a neutral position, the Los Angeles Times reported. Kirk Wilbur, vice president of government affairs for the Cattlemen’s Assn., said amendments to the livestock-compensation provisions addressed concerns about how the program would work in practice. The association now supports the requirement to relaunch the Wildlife Coexistence Program, which is also intended to help members dealing with mountain lion depredations on livestock.
Advocates Say the Money Still Falls Short
Wildlife advocates had pushed for far more than what lawmakers ultimately delivered. They had asked for $18 million in one-time funding for the coexistence program, plus $15 million annually going forward, and roughly $30 million total for wolf compensation and management. Pamela Flick, California program director for Defenders of Wildlife, said advocates will keep seeking additional funding in future budget years. SB 1135 could still lead to an expanded team under Hunnicutt or more resources for wolf-collaring efforts, though nothing in the law locks that expansion in.
Newsom framed the signing in broader terms during the announcement, saying protecting nature is a moral issue and describing his own relationship to nature as connected to his creator. The state has described rising conflicts between people and wolves, bears, mountain lions and other animals as being driven in part by climate change and urban sprawl pushing people and wildlife closer together. Even so, fatal encounters remain rare: California has recorded six reported human fatalities from mountain lions since 1890, one from a coyote in 1981 and one from a black bear in 2023, while the Department of Fish and Wildlife has no recorded human fatalities from gray wolves.
