Conflicts and Attitudes Regarding the Return of the Grey Wolf to California

Beginning in the mid-nineteenth century, Euro-American settlers began the task of changing the landscape of California from vast expanses of wetland and forest into agricultural land. Since the arrival and eventual settlement of Spanish colonizers, ranching cattle has been a lucrative business in much of the state. The growing ranching industry and population of California directly led to the extermination of the gray wolf (Canis lupus) within the state by 1924. Wolves had long been regarded as dangerous vermin that preyed upon livestock, and it was believed their destruction would be beneficial to both profit and public safety.