Only Ewe Can Prevent Wildfires

Santa Barbara’s landscapes have a fluffy, unlikely hero: sheep. 

Environmental nonprofit Channel Islands Restoration (CIR), in cooperation with Cuyama Lamb, began their sheep grazing program three years ago for the ecological benefits it could provide along the South Coast. However, following the program’s introduction to the San Marcos Foothills Preserve in spring 2019, sheep grazing soon proved itself to be a viable wildfire prevention method — a point stressed at a community meeting held this December to raise support for the program heading into the New Year.

When the November 2019 Cave Fire swept down the Santa Ynez Mountains, “most firefighters were convinced that the fire would burn into the developed neighborhoods in the North La Cumbre area and had the potential to result in significant structure loss,” according to a letter from County Fire Marshal Rob Hazard to CIR’s executive director, Ken Owen. “This did not happen, no structures were lost, and the primary reason was the buffer provided by the grazed area in the preserve,” Hazard wrote.