Jon and Debbie Robinett manage the Diamond G Ranch in Wyoming, where they have lost pets and livestock to wolves. Nonetheless, the couple believes wolves have a right to exist, provided ranchers can shoot them when they attack herds. Ann Hermes/Staff
A gray wolf is spotted in a wooded area near Wisconsin Dells, Wis. After months of contentious debate, Wisconsin's first organized wolf hunt is finally set to begin. Jayne Belsky/Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources/AP/File
Few issues have been as contentious in the Rocky Mountain West in the past 20 years as the reintroduction of the wolf, as evidenced by these bumper stickers on a truck outside a hunting club in Dubois, Wyo. Ann Hermes/Staff
Debbie Robinett watches for predators through a scope the family keeps on a tripod in their ranch home in Wyoming’s Dunoir Valley. She also wears a gun on her hip
Jon Robinette with his dog, Louise, loosen the hay to feed the horses on the Diamond G Ranch in Dubois, Wyoming. Jon Robinette worked with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, capturing and tagging wolf packs on his property. Ann Hermes/Staff
‘I think environmentalists dropped the ball and we
A gray wolf is seen in the wild inside Yellowstone National Park. Montana wildlife regulators have given their initial approval to wolf-trapping rules meant to reduce the chances of other animals, such as dogs and lynx, being caught. MacNeil Lyons/National Park Service/AP/File
Jon Robinett, a fourthgeneration rancher, displays a map of wolf packs around
Republican state representative, Keith Gingery in the town square of Jackson, Wyoming. Gingery was pushing to have wolves declared trophy game across Wyoming, not just Yellowstone National Park. Ann Hermes/Staff
Douglas Smith, the lead wolf biologist in Yellowstone, checks the radio collar on a
An elk grazes near Teton National Park. Dwindling elk herds due to a rising wolf population have inflamed antiwolf sentiment in the West. Ann Hermes/Staff
For the past year, Oregon has been a 'wolf-safe' zone, with ranchers turning to nonlethal ways to protect livestock. While the number of wolves has gone up, livestock kills haven't.
As long as wolves have been making their comeback, biologists and ranchers have had a decidedly Old West option for dealing with those that develop a taste for beef: Shoot to kill. But for the past year, Oregon has been a "wolf-safe" zone, with ranchers turning to more modern, nonlethal ways to protect livestock.
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-Day-0615
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-14
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Erin-go-bragh-images-of-Ireland
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Weather-extremes-2013
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-13
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Children-s-labors
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Wildfires-2013
/Photo-Galleries/Photos-of-the-Day/2013/Photos-of-the-day-06-12
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Turkey-s-discontent
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Venezuela-after-Chavez
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/James-Whitey-Bulger-on-trial
/Photo-Galleries/In-Pictures/Facebook-fans-caption-Monitor-photos