Here’s why American Canyon is employing a flock of sheep

American Canyon has welcomed its newest employees — a flock of about 100 sheep.

The city is using sheep and their voracious appetites to help manage overgrowth and reduce risk of fire while relieving staff from attempting vegetation removal in areas difficult to access.

“When you look at problems and solving them from a variety of angles, sometimes you can come up with a solution you maybe weren’t thinking of before,” American Canyon City Manager Jason Holley said Sept. 29 as he announced the start of the city-facilitated sheep grazing.

Local farmer Cori Carlson, founder of Napa Pasture Protein, offered the city 100 sheep to graze areas that aren’t easy to access. It’s an environmentally conscious method as opposed to using chemical herbicides or machinery.

“If the sheep weren’t doing it, we would be out there with staff and weed eaters. And it’s challenging terrain. These animals are more equipped than we are,” Holley said. “And it provides a path for doing so with much less greenhouse gases and impacts to the environment. So, it feels great.”

While other areas have similar sheep-grazing programs, it’s a first for American Canyon.

The sheep began their work in late September at Veterans Park and within a week had cleared the site for the ongoing skate park relocation project.

The city will continue evaluating the program’s effectiveness, monitoring environmental impact and gathering local feedback.

Residents have buzzed with excitement since the animals arrived. The city has received a flood of surveys offering positive comments related to the program.

“We don’t ordinarily get that many forms over a weekend,” Holley said. “I think it kind of struck a chord with the community.”

Davet Mohammed, an American Canyon resident and planning commissioner, lives up the street from where the sheep are currently grazing. She noticed community members would stop by to check out the scene.

“It was really nice to see the little herding family out there, helping out and everything,” she said. “When I first saw it, I was kind of shocked but pleasantly surprised.”

But it seems like an ideal solution, Mohammed said.

“American Canyon is developing and progressing and doing a lot of things. To see this happening, it didn’t surprise me at all,” she said.

You can reach Intern Emma Molloy at emma.molloy@pressdemocrat.com.