CALIFORNIA CATTLEMAN WEEKLY

Nov. 24, 2025

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CDFW Issues New Wolf Updates, Including New Livestock Depredation Reporting
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced last week that it had released a Wolf News Update covering the period between July and October.

The Department’s Wolf Management Update overviews the Department’s population monitoring efforts, highlighting in particular the Department’s lethal removal of the Beyem Seyo Pack from Sierra Valley last month (as previously reported in California Cattleman Weekly). CDFW reports having confirmed a new wolf pack – the Grizzly Pack in southern Plumas County – meaning the state’s overall number of packs remains steady at ten. Only the Ice Cave, Whaleback and Yowlumni packs have wolves which are fitted with functioning GPS collars.

CDFW last reported a minimum total population of gray wolves in its June 2024 update, making it difficult to accurately assess California’s current wolf population. Based on CCA’s analysis of reproduction and mortality reporting by the Department since that time, however, CCA assesses that there are currently between 86-96 known wolves in the state.

Another document released last week, “Known Wolves – November 2025,” reveals that five active wolf packs – the Grizzly, Harvey, Ice Cave, Lassen and Whaleback packs – produced litters of pups this year. The Department’s Conservation Plan for Gray Wolves in California suggests that CDFW may review “whether state listing as endangered remains warranted” once there are eight breeding pairs in the state for two successive years.

In a separate update issued last week, CDFW noted that it “is changing how wolf-livestock depredation determinations are reported online,” switching from “individual depredation determination files for each investigation” to a tabular format briefly summarizing all investigations for a given year. CDFW’s summary of depredations through November 1 demonstrates that wolves killed 175 livestock animals through just the first 10 months of 2025 – nearly three times the number of depredations suffered throughout all of 2024. The Beyem Seyo Pack was responsible for 88 depredations, followed by the Harvey Pack (32) and Whaleback Pack (20).

EPA and Army Corps Propose Re-Defining “Waters of the U.S.” – Again
The Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers on Thursday published a proposed rule to revise the definition of “Waters of the United States,” waters over which the U.S. federal government has jurisdiction for Clean Water Act permitting purposes. If that sound familiar, it is because every administration since the Obama Administration has sought to re-define what constitutes “Waters of the United States.”

The proposed rule seeks in part to comply with the United States Supreme Courts 2023 ruling in Sackett v. EPA, which limited federal jurisdiction of wetlands to those which have “a continuous surface connection” with a traditional navigable water, “making it difficult to determine where the ‘water’ ends and the ‘wetland’ begins” (for more information about the Sackett ruling, see the May 30, 2023 edition of CCA’s Legislative Bulletin newsletter). Consequently, the proposed rule seeks to define as jurisdictional traditionally navigable bodies of water and tributaries and relatively permanent wetlands, lakes and ponds with a continuous surface connection to those waters.

CCA’s national affiliate, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, lauded the proposed rule, writing that “The revised WOTUS rule ensures that only large bodies of water and their main tributaries fall under federal jurisdiction. Past WOTUS rules issued under the Obama and Biden administrations placed small, isolated water features under federal regulation. Prairie potholes, playa lakes, and even ditches that only carried water after large storms became regulated as if they were a large lake, river or ocean.”

Alongside its release of the proposed rule, the Trump Administration released a “Fact Sheet for the Agricultural Community” which clarifies the extent to which prior converted cropland, waste treatment systems and ditches are excluded from federal jurisdiction under the proposed rule.

Unfortunately, the Sackett decision and the newly-proposed rule may provide relatively little practical relief for California producers if lawmakers in Sacramento get their way: a CCA-opposed two-year bill currently pending in the State Legislature seeks to extend state permitting authority to any waters over which the federal government has been stripped of regulatory authority as a result of Sackett and subsequent actions.

California Voters Approve Proposition 50, Authorizing Mid-Cycle Redistricting
Earlier this month, California voters approved Proposition 50, green-lighting new Congressional maps gerrymandered in favor of California Democrats ahead of the 2026 Midterm Election. The new maps swing the demographic makeups of five Congressional districts currently held by Republicans firmly in favor of Democrats, giving the party a potential electoral advantage of 48-4 in future elections. As reported in last week’s California Cattleman Weekly, state Republicans have filed a lawsuit alleging that Proposition 50 violates the 14^th and 15^th amendments of the U.S. Constitution. On Thursday, the Trump Administration filed a brief seeking to intervene in support of the challenge to Proposition 50. For more information, see the November 10 edition of California Cattleman Weekly.

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Industry News

What Does Tyson’s Announcement Mean to Beef Producers? Drovers “The announcement to close the Lexington, Neb., plant and transition to one shift in Amarillo shocked the beef industry. While local impacts will be significant, analysts urge producers to remain calm as the market fundamentals steady following the reaction.” To continue reading, click here.

CDFA Strengthens Defense Against New World Screwworm with More Than $500,000 in Funding for Surveillance, Training, and Integrated Pest Management California Department of Food & Agriculture “CDFA’s Office of Pesticide Consultation & Analysis (OPCA) is amplifying efforts to protect ranchers and livestock from the threat of the New World Screwworm (NWS). The screwworm has been detected within 70 miles of the US/Mexico border and poses a significant risk to the US cattle industry.” To continue reading, click here.

Trump Administration Revises Endangered Species Act Western Ag Network “The Department of the Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has announced four proposed rules to restore Endangered Species Act regulations to their proven 2019 and 2020 framework. The actions advance President Donald J. Trump’s directives to strengthen American energy independence, improve regulatory predictability and ensure federal actions align with the best reading of the law.” To continue reading, click here.

U.S. Drops 40% Tariff on Brazilian Beef in New White House Executive Order Drovers “A White House Executive Order issued Thursday modifies the scope of earlier tariffs placed on products from Brazil, effectively removing the additional 40% duty applied to Brazilian beef. The change reverses part of a July trade action that had imposed elevated import duties on multiple categories of Brazilian goods. It’s the latest effort by the Trump administration to bring food prices down for Americans.” To continue reading, click here.