Sheep get free lunch on city

By Cherry Sokoloski
Fossil Creek Current

In mid-June, runners and bicyclists were surprised when they crested the hill behind Hughes Stadium in the Maxwell Open Space. There, sharing the view and the trails, were a couple hundred bleating ewes with lambs, a Peruvian sheepherder, a sheep dog and a bright blue herder's wagon. One hiker on the trails described the unusual scene as "charming." A bicyclist stopped just to take in the view, and neighborhood folks brought kids in strollers to see the little lambs.

Other species were interested as well. Border collies on leash - most of whom had never seen a sheep--had sudden adrenaline surges as the band of sheep appeared before them.

It was the meeting of two worlds, urban and rural. Sheep were a big part of the settling of the West, but sheepherder's wagons are about as rare anymore as open space itself.

The herder was surprised, too, to see so many people using the Maxwell Open Space. "Much, much people," said Javier Cortea, who has been herding sheep in Colorado for about a year. Cortea doesn't speak a lot of English, but his dog Ray understands him just fine. A purebred border collie, Ray provided onlookers with a great demonstration of a working dog--at work.

The most-asked question: What are the sheep doing here? The answer: They're a cost-effective supplement to Round-Up. The Fort Collins Natural Resources staff has been increasingly concerned about the expansion of invasive weeds into open spaces, caused partly by the prolonged drought. Sheep are viewed as one more weapon in the arsenal against those pesky plants.

"On a large scale, sheep are cost effective and gentler on the land than traditional mechanical and chemical weed treatments," said Rick Bachand with the city's natural areas program. Sheep are particularly well suited for rocky, steep hillsides that are difficult to reach with machinery.

Targeted weeds for the city project include leafy spurge, Canada thistle, kochia and cheatgrass. Daylan Figgs, senior environmental planner with the natural resources department, pointed out that the light grazing will also help the beneficial grasses in the open spaces.

While grazing is cost-effective, it's not being viewed as a substitute for the more common types of weed control. According to Figgs, studies have shown that grazing and herbicides work better together than either does alone.

Rancher hired

Fort Collins contracted with Severance sheep rancher John Bartmann to graze his sheep on city open spaces during June, with an option of coming back this fall. The sheep started at Reservoir Ridge south of Michaud Lane, then were trailed on foot to the Maxwell Open Space for a few days. Bartmann then used trailers to move the band to the Cathy Fromme Prairie, Coyote Ridge and Colina Mariposa. Sheep grazed a property for a few days to a few weeks.

The city's second goal for the sheep project was to reduce wildfire fuels, especially on Cathy Fromme Prairie and Colina Mariposa. These two open spaces abut housing developments; in fact, earlier this year there was a grass fire on the Cathy Fromme that got the attention of several homeowners nearby. Grazing sheep on the perimeters of those open spaces creates a buffer between the grasslands and the neighborhoods, making it easier to control fires should they occur.

Bartmann was a good partner for the project, Figgs said, because he has considerable experience not only with sheep but also with vegetation control. He has worked for seven seasons with The Nature Conservancy and private landowners in the Cherokee Park area near Livermore, where his sheep are also used for weed control.

No money has exchanged hands for the city's ovine undertaking. Figgs said the relationship is a win-win, with Bartmann having pasture for his sheep and the city getting its weeds munched down.

Herders imported

Another interesting aspect of the project is the use of legal foreign labor to work the sheep. Bartmann has been using herders from Peru for the past several years. "In the sheep industry, our biggest problem is labor," he said. He has had no luck recruiting U.S. herders, so he spends considerable time and money to import help.

Bartmann's herders all have H2A "guest worker" permits, and it takes up to six months to process the necessary paperwork. Then, the rancher spends more than $1,000 per person on airfare. Besides Javier, he is expecting one more herder from Peru to arrive this year.

"The sheep industry is one of only a few agricultural industries that brings in guys legally," Bartmann said. The Severance rancher thinks the process is unnecessarily complicated and the U.S. government should simplify it.

One might think it would be easy to find Peruvians with sheep herding experience, but that's not the case. Bartmann trains them on the job. One attractive feature for the Peruvian workers is that in many cases, the simple herder's wagon actually has more amenities than their homes in Peru.

If this year's experiment is deemed successful, the sheep will be brought back next year, and the program could start earlier in the spring. May is a better month for controlling cheatgrass, Figgs explained. With the continued drought and the steady advance of noxious weeds, it's unlikely that the sheep will be eating themselves out of a job anytime soon.