Wildfire and Wool: How grazing on national forests is a win-win

By Lauren Faulkenberry
Public Affairs Officer, Tahoe National Forest
Nov. 3, 2023

If you look carefully, you’ll spot sheep in the distance. Sheep are gentle grazers and nearly silent. Forests are managed to allow grazing to co-mingle with other forest uses, such as recreation. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lauren Faulkenberry) 

 

Surrounding a popular reservoir on the Tahoe National Forest, cyclists are whizzing by, a couple is out for a leisurely hike, and several groups are gearing up for a day on the water. All are seemingly unaware that just a few hundred feet away — there’s a thousand sheep grazing peacefully, quietly.  

A group walking by was asked if they’d seen the sheep nearby. A few remarked they lived and recreated in the area for decades and had never seen sheep or other livestock in the forest. Perhaps a nod to “Leave No Trace” principles, sheep are gentle on the landscape and almost silent as they graze and move along. 

So, while national forests provide vital wildlife habitat, water and public recreation opportunities, they also remain working landscapes — truly the lands of both work and play.  

Providing low-cost, nutritious grazing opportunities for ranchers is just one of the many industries Forest Service lands support. On the Tahoe National Forest, grazing is also a natural resource management tool used to combat a century of forest overgrowth, support wildfire risk reduction, and return the forest to a healthier state. 

Opportunity awaits 

Forests across the United States offer grasslands, deserts, meadows, timber areas and beyond as grazing opportunities for livestock. The Forest Service’s rangeland program monitors grazing areas locally by dividing them into allotments, or geographic areas defined by barriers like ridges and streams. Or often on the Tahoe National Forest, public vs. private property lines. 

Herders stay with the sheep through the grazing season and are experts in managing how and when to move the band across the forest. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lauren Faulkenberry) 

 Allotments are assigned to specific ranchers through a permitting process with special uses regulated by the forest, to prevent overgrazing or negative ecological impacts. 

Grazing sheep and cattle on the Tahoe National Forest dates back to the Gold Rush era. As bustling mining towns became established up and down the Sierra, ranchers seized the opportunity of a growing customer base while also taking advantage of nutrition the forest naturally provides their livestock.  

From the 1890s to early 1900s, Basques from Spain and France immigrated to the Sierras in search of sheepherding jobs and were often paid partially in sheep. Significant in the Basque culture, the eldest son typically inherits a family farm. 

Wheeler Sheep Camp, preserved on the Tahoe National Forest, features a traditional Basque oven. Some are still in use today. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lauren Faulkenberry) 

Over time, some of the Basque herders were able to build a business of their own, often staying in the region. Many sheep camps with traditional Basque bread ovens were built across the Sierras, some still standing today. Several Basque families and businesses continue to hold grazing permits, which have been grandfathered down for generations. 

Today, the grazing industry continues to provide opportunity. Many sheep grazed on the Tahoe National Forest are kept for both wool and meat. Wool production in the United States is lucrative and rarer than most, with the majority of wool in clothing products and other materials coming from abroad. 

Grazing on national forest land is significantly cheaper than if ranchers purchase feed or privately lease rangeland. However, the cost to support what it takes to graze sheep on the forest for a season, like transport and labor, can be more expensive. Forests often provide nutritious forage during certain seasons beneficial to the livestock and the land. So, adding up what route to take often comes down to the objectives a rancher hopes to achieve. 

Grazing continues to be explored as a land management tool across agencies. Techniques like targeted grazing for vegetation reduction and invasive plant management are only expected to increase in use. 

Browsing for bitterbrush 

Sheep are technically considered browsers, not grazers — terms used to describe the feeding habits of livestock. Sheep will feed on vegetation higher off the ground than cattle, and they prefer hardy material, such as bitterbrush, as opposed to grasses. Herders tend to the sheep throughout the grazing season and move them across the landscape every few days as they monitor grazing impacts.

Tahoe National Forest Rangeland Specialist Mary Meagher inspects recently grazed vegetation, to showcase optimal grazing impacts. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lauren Faulkenberry) ​  

“We want to see alignment with moderate grazing, so there is sustainability of the land year-over-year for our permittees that come to our allotments,” said Mary Meagher, eastside rangeland specialist for the Tahoe National Forest. “This usually looks like brush and grasses eaten down, but still present, and seedheads scattered across the area recently grazed which promotes regeneration of some of the plants as well as soil stability.” 

Historically, the Tahoe National Forest was over-grazed. Prior to the Forest Service establishing and implementing the rangeland program, there were over 100,000 sheep recorded on the forest contributing to significant overgrazing. Today, there are about 6,000 sheep grazed on the forest. 

Current forest management practices determine what level of livestock a landscape can sustain through the environmental analysis of several factors including how much forage is available on the forest. 

“We have areas of the forest that were historically over grazed, and we still see negative ecologic impacts from those unsustainable practices,” said Meagher.  

Evidence of overgrazing includes erosion and other hydrologic impacts. Today, some areas damaged by grazing are part of restoration projects across the forest to improve water quality and overall forest health. So, the sheep that return season after season provide a continuous regime of minimizing the fine fuels on the ground to reduce wildfire risk.  

But does a “woof” impact wildlife? 

Each band of sheep typically has one or more livestock guardian dogs for safety. The dogs deter predators by barking and alerting the sheep if a threat is nearby. Predators that may threaten sheep on the Tahoe National Forest include coyote, black bear, mountain lion, and the occasional grey wolf. 

Livestock guardian dogs stay with the sheep through the grazing season. University of California Cooperative Extension conducts research exploring if the presence of the dogs in the forest has any significant impact on wildlife behavior. (USDA Forest Service photo by Lauren Faulkenberry) 

The University of California Cooperative Extension works with one of the sheep grazers on the forest to research how and if livestock guardian dogs impact wildlife behavior. Dan Macon, a livestock and natural resource advisor for the UC Cooperative Extension, conducts and analyzes this research. 

“Some things we look at is if grazing and the presence of livestock guardian dogs displace wildlife,” said Macon. “Also, if the dogs impact the way deer are using rangeland or if they change the way some mesopredators like bobcats or raccoons are using habitat.” 

Through a network of game cameras across the rangeland along with tracking collars placed on the dogs, Macon is able to see patterns in wildlife behavior as sheep graze across the landscape. He began conducting this research about five years ago and has experienced little conflict between predators and the sheep on the forest with the use of livestock guardian dogs. He also notes deer and elk are still naturally moving across the rangeland, even with the livestock and dogs present.  

“We see a decrease in large predator activity when sheep are near,” Macon explained. “We do tend to see more raccoons and foxes and bobcats and things like that when the dogs are on the landscape, because there's not that competition with the larger predators out there for them. In essence, the smaller predators are protected by the dogs as well.” 

While Macon’s research is preliminary, he hopes to continue far into the future, especially as wolf numbers are expected to increase in California. 

---

Ready to see more guardian dogs, sheep and grazing images? Check out our Flickr | Grazing on the Tahoe National Forest.