Working Wild U

We're excited to announce the second season of Working Wild U: Imperiled.

This season we're exploring community and landowner-led wildlife conservation on working and tribal lands across the West. From grizzly bears to lesser-known species, join us as we discover the challenges and successes of how communities are working together for common-ground solutions.

We'll dive into the action, meeting individuals on the ground stewarding habitats and supporting thriving rural communities. As the Endangered Species Act turns 50, we reflect on the past and ponder the next 50 years of conservation in the US. Stay tuned for episodes dropping soon – it's a season of surprising stories and crucial questions about the future of working lands in the West.

Stay tuned for episodes dropping soon!

Working Wild University is a production of Western Landowners Alliance and Dr. Jared Beaver at Montana State University Extension and a proud part of Natural Resources Univers

In today's bonus episode, we get an update on the Colorado wolf management plan from Hallie Mahowald with Western Landowners Alliance. Hallie was appointed as a member of the Stakeholder Advisory Group to ensure landowners and managers in Colorado were represented in providing input to Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

As we explored in episode 13, Colorado Parks and Wildlife is currently drafting the wolf management plan. Part of this process involved the Stakeholder Advisory Group (SAG), which was made up of people from the ranching community, wildlife advocates, guides and outfitters, hunters and anglers, and wildlife managers.

Find the show notes at workingwild.us

We've covered a lot this season: wolves, working lands, and some of the ideas and management practices that divide and unite the people of the American West. In our final episode of the season, Alex and Jared head to Colorado, where a ballot initiative, passed in 2020, requires Colorado Parks and Wildlife to reintroduce wolves to the western part of the state by the end of 2023.

Show notes: workingwild.us

Today's episode is a special guest in our podcast feed, from the Down to Earth: the Planet to Plate Podcast, presented by our friends at the Quivira Coalition and Radio Café. Working Wild U cohost Jared Beaver sat down with Down to Earth host Mary-Charlotte Domandi to discuss why we started Working Wild U, why we chose to wade into a season on wolves, and the important role working lands play in supporting people and wildlife in the American West.

Thanks to Mary-Charlotte and the Quivira Coalition for welcoming Jared to their incredible interview lineup. Other recent guests on the show have included ranch manager Mark Biaggi, author Dan Flores and filmmaker John D. Liu! Check out Down to Earth: The Planet to Plate Podcast wherever you listen to podcasts.

Find the show notes at workingwild.us

Today, Alex and Jared explore how livestock producers and researchers are working together to adapt old world tools into new world technologies to help reduce conflicts. They'll look at how innovative solutions can often be simple, and how new tools can help keep people, livestock, and wildlife safe.

Find the show notes at workingwild.us

In this episode, Alex and Jared dive into techniques that can help ranchers reduce conflicts between wolves and livestock. They'll explore how a new spin on an old tool increases the effectiveness of fencing, how putting riders back on the range can have a multitude of benefits, and how one valley in Montana is working together to compost carcasses to reduce attractants on the landscape.

But applying these tools takes know-how, money, and time. Who pays for conflict reduction efforts that support both wildlife and working lands?

See the full show notes, including links to references from the episode, at workingwild.us.

This is a special bonus episode of Working Wild U. In the northeast corner of Washington on the Colville Reservation, wildlife managers are working to ensure a balance across all wildlife species as wolves re-establish themselves. Today, Alex and Jared hear from Cody Desautel, the executive director and former natural resource director for the Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation.

Full show notes can be found, as always, at workingwild.us.

So far this season, we've been spending a lot of time in the Northern Rockies, in the states where grey wolves first returned to the West – by reintroduction or recolonization. But in 2008, dispersing wolves from Idaho denned in both eastern Oregon and Washington, where wolves hadn't been seen since the 1940s.

In this episode, Alex and Jared explore how different geography, politics and management goals put wolves into the center of a tough new push-pull dynamic in the Pacific Northwest.

Full show notes can be found at workingwild.us

When wolves disperse, they are increasingly moving through human-dominated landscapes where they often get into trouble.

In today's episode, Alex and Jared explore where wolves are, where different people think they should be, and the tricky business of managing and living with wolves in a changing world.

Complete show notes are always available at workingwild.us.

Many people, when they think about wolves, think of Yellowstone National Park. And for good reason; it has some of the best wolf watching in the world. But tensions rose when changes to Montana's wolf hunt along the Park border were made just before the 2021-22 hunting season.

In this episode, Alex and Jared explore wolves in and around Yellowstone National Park. They'll look at how wolves are managed differently depending on where they are on a map, and what that really means for the communities around the Park. Plus, can non-consumptive users help fund wildlife conservation?

Full show notes are available at workingwild.us.