Range Riding Short Course Training Curriculum

We’ve designed this short course format for individuals looking to enhance their skills and understanding of range riding and reducing wolf interactions.

January 30, 2025

8 am to 5 pm

Morgridge Commons Meeting and Conference Center

815 Cooper Ave 2nd floor, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601

Session 1: Opening Remarks and Panel Introductions

8:00 am

Session 2: What is Range Riding? Best practices and their applications across various operational contexts.

8:45 am

Rae Nickerson, PhD Candidate, Utah State University

• What is range riding and defining effectiveness (needed skills)
• The importance of context and operational considerations
• Risk evaluation
• Supporting tools
• Communication and conflict mitigation
• Panel discussion

10:30 am: Break – 15 minutes

Session 3: Range Riding and Livestock Handling 

10:45 am

Amber Mason, Ruby Dell Ranch

• Riding the herd vs riding the predators
• Stockmanship
• Identifying and responding to problems
• Stockmanship and rider safety
• Panel discussion

12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch

Session 4: “Stewards of the Working Wild”: Regional Conservation Partnership Program Contracting and Collaboration

1:30 pm

Matthew Collins, Western Landowners Alliance

Session 5 Colorado Parks and Wildlife

2:00 pm

• Wildlife Tracks and Signs
• Hazing/Permitting
• Effective injurious and non-injurious hazing tools.
• How to order nonlethal materials like cracker shells and rubber buckshot.
• Reporting requirements.
• What to do when suspected depredation is found – pictures, scene containment, who to call, etc.

3:30 pm: Break – 15 mins

Session 6 Optimizing Camera Deployment

3:45 pm

• Camera Deployment
• Data management expectations and landing place

5:00 pm – Conclude

Trainers and Panelists

Rae Nickerson rae.nickerson@usu.edu 

Rae Nickerson is a PhD student at Utah State University evaluating the effectiveness of range riding on fifteen ranches across five western states. She has a decade of experience working on wolf-livestock conflict with producers through her work agencies, graduate collaborations, and as a partner with Western Landowners Alliance. She’s trained in low-stress livestock handling/range riding and conflict facilitation/mitigation.

Amber Mason  amber.mason1458@gmail.com  

Amber Mason has been a livestock producer in the Centennial Valley for over twenty years. She has extensive experience in range riding for wolves and grizzly bears and specializes in stockmanship and range riding. 

Sisto Hernandez shernandez@westernlandowners.org  

Sisto Hernandez is the New Mexico Resources Coordinator for Western Landowners Alliance and a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. He comes from a ranching heritage on both sides of his family. Sisto has extensive experience managing range riding programs, has represented his Tribe, served as president of the Mexican Wolf/Livestock Council for Arizona and New Mexico, and is vice president of the Grasshopper Livestock Association. 

Kim Kerns kimberleekerns@gmail.com 

Kim Kerns is a fourth-generation sheep and cattle rancher in Northeast Oregon who has been operating with wolves for over fifteen years. Kim has extensive experience in range riding, working with livestock guardian dogs, applying deterrents, and utilizing fencing practices to protect livestock from carnivores. Sharing her stewardship knowledge, Kerns has hosted training sessions for producers in Oregon and state agencies around the West.