Preserving the natural prairie
With the sound of more than 400 hoofs pounding towards him, Jared Epp is calm and collected.
A broad grin spreads across his face under the shadow of his dusty baseball cap. His two-year-old border collie, Rex, is completely under control of this herd of 106 sheep. And Epp — who for the last six years has made a name for himself as Saskatoon’s shepherd — is completely under control of the dog.
“Watch — we will have sheep under our feet in two seconds,” he says, before blowing the whistle that hangs around his neck. On command, Rex swings around to the left and crouches low in the prairie grass. The sheep stop just feet from where Epp is standing.
Epp and his sheep are part of an innovative conservation project going on in some of the city’s most endangered natural areas. For the past eight years, Epp has been working with the Meewasin Valley Authority in an effort to preserve Saskatoon’s natural prairie. Today, he is at the Beaver Creek Conservation Area — a 128-hectare area of protected land 13 kilometres south of Saskatoon.
“The whole goal is to preserve the native prairie patch. Here’s some smooth brome — we see it in the ditches everywhere,” Epp says, bending down to point out the invasive plant species. “This silver leaf stuff here is wolf willow, which is also very aggressive. Those are just two species that we are grazing.”
With his plaid flannel shirt tucked into his Wrangler blue jeans, Epp doesn’t look like a typical shepherd. He is large and exceptionally friendly man — especially given the fact he spends almost 24 hours a day in the company of sheep.
In the hot summer months he starts grazing the sheep at dawn, somewhere between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. On a busy day, his dogs can run as far as 12 kilometres in a few hours.
He does have a crook — a wizard-like staff used to herd sheep — but admits he uses it more like a walking stick. His pack of precision-trained dogs are the ones corralling the sheep.
“I’ve got a lot of use out of this thing this year,” he laughs, holding up his crook. “Lots of walking, lots of leaning on it, watching sheep eat.”
But the sheep in Epp’s care are doing more than filling their bellies with the prairie grass. They are now an integral part of keeping this land healthy.
The sheep have an appetite for invasive or aggressive grass and plant species that are encroaching on the virgin prairie. Not only do the sheep eat up most of the unwanted plants, their grazing also stimulates the natural cycles of the prairie.
“They are very userfriendly,” he laughs.
The sheep, along with the annual controlled burning the MVA manages, imitate the natural conditions that existed on the prairie before agriculture dominated the landscape.
The sheep, which graze both brushes and smaller plants, do the job of the now endangered buffalo herds who once roamed here.
Over the years, Epp has cultivated an intense appreciation for the prairie landscape and the people who help maintain it.
On this particular day, he tours the Beaver Creek site with someone who has dedicated his life to preserving and maintaining areas of natural biodiversity.
“A lot of people don’t recognize a prairie for a prairie,” says Luc Delanoy, a resource management officer with the MVA, who is touring the area with his weeding shovel in hand.
“That’s where Jared comes in with the sheep. People will come to see the sheep and that will open opportunity to talk about the prairie and learn about the prairie.”
Epp, who will be dividing the summer months between Beaver Creek and the MVA-managed north east swale, will be giving tours with the sheep at Beaver Creek until July 15.