Modern Range Riders: Bridging Ranchers and Predators in the New West

Over the past 15 years a new class of “range rider” has appeared across Montana, Idaho, Oregon, Wyoming, Washington, Arizona and Colorado. These riders—often cattle producers on horseback, wildlife technicians with trail cameras, or ranch hands on ATVs—monitor livestock, set electric fences, and report predator activity to producers and state agencies. Their work aims to let wolves and grizzlies roam while reducing livestock losses that can cost ranchers thousands of dollars per calf.

The Guardian

Ranchers such as Matt Barnes, a rancher-scientist with the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative, describe the cultural shift as “hard to accept” after a century of predator eradication. Conservationists and tribal nations celebrate the coexistence model, noting that many range riders are women who apply regenerative grazing and low-stress livestock handling to make herds less vulnerable. Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s wolf-damage manager Rae Nickerson emphasizes that the public narrative often mischaracterizes range riding as “predator warfare.”

The Guardian

Scaling the model proves difficult. Funding is piecemeal, training can take up to two years, and scientific proof of conflict reduction is elusive. Nonetheless, Colorado launched a state-run program in 2025 in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Colorado Department of Agriculture, seeking a more stable financial structure.

The Guardian

Jeff Vance Martin, a USDA Forest Service social scientist, describes range riding as a flexible set of skills—backcountry survival, telemetry, virtual fencing, and communication—that “help manage a new reality” where predators and livestock share the landscape. Colorado officials stress that the 2025 program is intended to reduce rider turnover and provide consistent support to ranchers.

The Guardian

• “If your ancestors just spent the last 150 years getting rid of wolves and grizzly bears to make the West safe for sheep and cattle, it’s hard to accept that society actually wants wolves and grizzly bears now too,” — Matt Barnes, rancher and rangeland scientist at the Northern Rockies Conservation Cooperative

The Guardian

• “There is a misunderstanding that range riding is engaging in predator warfare,” — Rae Nickerson, the wolf damage and conflict minimization manager with Colorado parks and wildlife

The Guardian

• “We really wanted to create a more stable financial structure, so that we could prevent [rider] turnover. It takes a long time to train up a rider, sometimes two years,” — Nickerson. Proving

The Guardian

• “The problem with conflict prevention from a scientific standpoint is it’s almost impossible to measure. You’re talking about something that could have happened, but didn’t,” — Barnes. Photograph

The Guardian

• “Range Riding points to examples of success that maybe we can learn from and scale up. It points to the willingness of people on the ground to find those practical, pragmatic kinds of solutions to what is often a very polarizing discussion,” — Martin. As

The Guardian

• “When you have wolves, your whole life can change overnight,” — Rae Nickerson, the wolf damage and conflict minimization manager with Colorado parks and wildlife

The Guardian