Dear Friend,
Have you welcomed the month of August? Is it tempting to burn the candle at both ends… get up early to beat the heat and stay up late to enjoy the cool evening breezes? I hope that you are finding time to rest and rejuvenate… it is during sleep that most of our healing occurs… we do need our zzzzs… how do you sleep?
It’s early morning here as I write this letter, I’m at my make-shift desk inside a home near the South Fork of the American River. There are farms all around this home with goats, horses, cows, chickens, alpacas, and, just a few miles away, above the river in open space, well over one-hundred sheep are guarded throughout the night by three dogs and a shepherd. Their enclosure is mobile; they are Star Creek Land Stewards, part of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Targeted Grazing Project.
The new-moon night was so very dark and busy with the whistle-screams of coyotes and the barking-howls of shepherd dogs. We’ll go to see the sheep this morning, we trust they’re grazing safely.
Have you heard of Targeted Grazing? People who own livestock (Goats, Sheep, Cows), carefully transport and enclose a flock or herd on land that is overgrown with what most people would call, ‘weeds.’ This is obviously an opportunistic ‘use’ of these herbivores. At first glance, it may seem that in exchange for a good mowing, the ranchers are given free food. Win-win. But the benefits are far more impactful.
Over the years, the practice of Targeted Grazing has thinned and, in some cases, nearly eliminated, the growth of invasive, non-native plants, making way for otherwise struggling native plants to return. Wildlife depends on the nutrition afforded by this healthier variety of plant life.
This means also a huge reduction each year in natural fire-fuel. The ‘fuel ladder’ (thickly growing ground-plants that easily catches fire or allow embers to smolder)… needs to be reduced or else fire quickly spreads across acres of ground and up into shrubs and tree canopies. We’ve all seen and felt the impact of fire to our world, whether it be wild or human-started fire, there is devastation.
Forest trees grow crowded in, so dense, so beautifully green...
It only takes a spark...
What grows in after the fire is out and the ground is quenched with snow melt? Often the first plants to arrive will be opportunistic non-native, invasives like yellow star-thistle, medusahead, black mustard (with such pretty yellow flowers), and even blackberries. All of which quickly become a familiar, but, again, very flammable, landscape.
Read about medusahead and yellow star-thistle and more: TERRESTRIAL PLANTS
Get to know more about what’s Native and Non-Native where you live: INVASIVE SPECIES INFO.Gov
As you know from previous letters, I truly care that animals are well cared for, given the best chance at a good life... and I think that you, too, care. I’ve been thinking of the flock of sheep that is currently grazing just a couple miles away. And I’m not the only person.
A quote from writer, Ivan Doig, from his novel, 'Dancing at the Rascal Fair' – “To be successful with sheep, even when you’re not thinking about them, you need to think about them a little.”
(If you’ve never read any of Ivan Doig’s work, you might enjoy this introduction: WHO WAS IVAN DOIG?)
The health of each and every goat, sheep and cow is on the mind of the rancher or shepherd - the person or people who care for these animals really do care.
Supplemental food and minerals (salt-licks) are provided as well as easy access to clean water.
The calves, kids and lambs are shown ‘how to graze’ specific plants when they are young so that it isn’t a big mystery when they are turned out on location.
WATCH this news feed ABOUT STAR CREEK LAND STEWARDS.
We’ve seen these flocks and mixed-herds grazing locally and we’ve observed the shepherds’ care.
Though trail users are warned about the Grazing, these sheep didn’t seem to mind our company. Frank’s photos, as usual, beautifully tell the tale.
Thank you, Sheep!
And thank YOU for being here! Frank and I SO appreciate that you visit EgretTracks to read Tracks by the Post! When you have an extra moment, please write to us, we always love to hear from you!
Wishing you a wonderful day and a healthy, happy, rest-filled week ahead... (if you are in need of sheep to count, we know where you can find some)…
Gently Be,
Leslie and Frank
PS: If you would like to share some information with a KID in your life, here’s a great downloadable activity book from the BLM: JUNIOR EXPLORER NATIVE PLANTS
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