SACRAMENTO, Calif. — California wildlife officials may use “injurious” techniques to chase wolves away from cattle ranches in the state’s Sierra Valley and Siskiyou County rangeland this summer, part of a new program aimed at reducing wolf attacks on livestock, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said.

The pilot program, which will be staffed day and night, is the state’s first major response to a wave of attacks on cattle and incursions into populated areas by the state’s resurgent gray wolf population.

It is also the first indication that the state is moving into a new phase for managing the species, which is protected under state and federal endangered species laws and cannot be harassed with any but the mildest techniques, such as banging pots and pans to make noise.

The program was developed amid growing concern in California about the management of wildlife predators, including wolves, coyotes, mountain lions and bears.

“We are doing everything we can to keep both livestock and wolves safe,” said CDFW Director Charlton H. Bonham in a news release.

The new program, which the state is calling its “summer strike team,” began Monday with the arrival of new staff serving Siskiyou, Plumas and Sierra counties, CDFW spokesperson Katie Talbot said Tuesday. About 20 biologists and other experts will be assigned to work in pairs 24-7 to staff the program over the summer, helping to track wolves and developing wolf management plans for any ranch that chooses to participate, Talbot said.

Trained staff will then employ nonlethal methods to deter the wolves, including some that might injure them, the department said. Officials did not specify which methods they would use, but the state’s wolf management plan says such methods as flying drones near them to frighten them or firing bean bags at them are possible during this new phase of wolf management, known as Phase Two.

“I think it’s very smart,” said Amaroq Weiss, senior wolf advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. Assigning staff to help monitor the wolves and respond to problems could ease ranchers’ concerns while helping to ensure that only trained personnel engage in activities that could harm wolves.

“I hope that the ranchers in the area also do the right thing and accept this offer of assistance and participate in these opportunities,” she said.

The state officially entered the second phase of its wolf conservation efforts this spring, after four breeding pairs of wolves had pups who survived through December two years in a row.

Wolves were essentially hunted out of existence in California in the 1920s, and when the first gray wolf migrated back in from Oregon in 2011, the state developed a management plan meant to protect the species and encourage its population to grow. Today there are about 70 wolves in California — possibly more now that the spring season for having pups has arrived, and at least ten packs.

But the wolves’ return has sparked fear among ranchers and others who live in the state’s northern rangelands. Wolves have killed dozens of calves so far this year, and with the spring grazing season set to begin this week, ranchers from all over the state will be sending more animals to spend the summer in the high pastures and foothills of the northeastern part of California.

“It’s an acknowledgment,” Talbot said. “When someone picks up the phone and says, ‘I can see a wolf,’ or ‘One of my calves has been attacked,’ we want them to understand that the department really cares about that.”

She said that one rancher had already taken advantage of the program, calling CDFW’s law enforcement arm about a wolf sighting on Monday, the first day it was in operation. An officer was at the ranch within ten minutes of the call, she said.

The move was greeted with cautious optimism by rancher Rick Roberti, president of the California Cattlemen’s Association, who raises cattle in Loyalton and whose voice has been among those begging the state for help.

“This is something the dept came up with to try to help us,” Roberti said. “Hopefully if this works they can find money to do it in more areas.”

Roberti said the additional staff, along with close monitoring of wolves that have GPS collars on them, should provide the state with much better information about where wolves are located. Using more intense measures to keep wolves away from the ranches will also help, although it could just push the predators to other parts of the state.

“They’re going to learn a lot from it and hopefully protect us,” Roberti said.

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