A SHEPHERD’S WORK
GRAZING HERDS BUILD CONNECTIONS
Chris was having trouble sleeping. He had a nagging feeling he should go back. It had been two days since he’d returned from a walkabout with his herd. How would he even know where to search for the missing baby goat?
It was evening now and he still needed to put the rest of the herd up for the night, but he couldn’t shake the feeling. Even though it was getting late and he was worn out from the trip, he set off in search of that three-week old goat.
Chris and a friend had met up to walk their combined herds in northeast Oregon. The size of the combined herd was more than Chris was accustomed to and it was days before he noticed someone was missing. On the last night of the trip, he heard a disturbance in the woods that sounded like a baby scream. It seemed reasonable to assume that a predator had found an easy target. Still, there was no evidence of a kill. And Chris couldn’t shake that feeling that if the goat were alive, it would be helpless out there alone.
He hiked six miles back before doubt started setting in. “I started feeling pretty stupid,” he confessed.
After searching a previous camp with no success,he began to wander down a drainage. Then he came upon two fishermen who reported a baby goat wandering through their camp. A short time later, it appeared. A little shaken from the experience, the kid was happy to see his shepherd, and Chris packed it out the entire 8 miles across his shoulders.
“We really bonded on that hike,” Chris said.
Chris took an important lesson from that experience. Keeping his herd small allows him to maintain the connection to the animals that is so important to him.
Photo Credit: Fiona Hicks
Chris and his herd of “too many” animals, including goats, sheep, yaks, a llama, and a camel, are currently on site at Pine Street Woods. For the second consecutive summer, the herd is assisting Kaniksu Land Trust with weed mitigation work by grazing on hawkweed, tansy, and wild rose while leaving behind rich fertilizer in the meadow. Employing temporary electric fencing, Chris moves the herd each day to eventually graze the entire meadow. He is careful to keep the animals away from the aspen, larch, wild raspberry, and tender young apple trees and ensures they have a steady supply of noxious weeds to satisfy them while improving the health of the Pine Street Woods meadow.
Sandy soil, mosses, and noxious weeds are indicators of poor soil quality. This can happen when the soil is exposed to toxins or chemicals, has too many or too few nutrients, and has insufficient positive microorganisms and helpful creatures like worms and bees. Healthy soil is full of organisms that turn dead matter and minerals into vital plant nutrients. It is the foundation for strong plants and helps control weeds, plant pests, and disease as well as erosion. One teaspoon of healthy soil contains 100 million-to-1 billion individual bacteria alone (NRCS Soils)!
KLT acknowledges that this targeted rotational grazing model that is being utilized in the Pine Street Woods meadow will not immediately eradicate the weeds. Rather, the aim is to discourage them enough to give grasses, which actually grow faster than the weeds, and other native plants a chance to compete and eventually flourish. This is a long-term project.
“We expect that 5-6 years of treatment will be necessary before we see results,” Regan Plumb, KLT Conservation Director explained.
Native plants struggle to grow in soil depleted of nutrients in the Pine Street Woods meadow.
In addition to grazing the weeds and enriching the soil with manure, KLT has also over-seeded the meadow with white clover, which serves to fix nitrogen. This will build soil nutrient value and encourage growth of native wildflowers such as yarrow and flax that are beneficial for pollinators.
Plumb added, “Rotational grazing has a long history and is a practice that deeply connects people with the land.”
While it is unusual to see herds at Pine Street Woods, KLT sees it as a viable way to manage the land in line with the Community Forest Plan.
“There is a huge history of people having goats and wandering around without owning their own land,” Chris continued. He spends a lot of time walking with the animals, which he says is their favorite thing to do.
“You’ll spend a ton of time with them and you’ll really connect.”
When he started raising goats with two friends four winters ago, he admits that he didn’t understand the animals as he does now.
“We lost them for five days at a primitive skills gathering. We didn’t understand their basic thought process yet,” he said.
But, over time, they developed a special bond. They want to be with him and he wants to be near them. He has learned how they think and can predict where they will go if they wander away from him.
While he often leads them, he has learned to follow as well. Sometimes he will choose a place to camp or graze, but the animals don’t like it. He used to make them stay. But, when he started allowing them to choose, he found that they instinctively knew the best places. Their connection with the land is natural and he grew to trust their instincts.
When a friend approached Chris with the idea of raising goats without owning land, it piqued his interest as he had been seeking a simpler lifestyle. Having been raised in western wheat country, he witnessed traditional farming practices firsthand at his grandfather’s farm.
“He’d use anything to kill the weeds quickly and conveniently,” he lamented.
The pesticides and other harmful chemicals that Chris was exposed to affected his health adversely and had a powerful impact on his life. He now feels very strongly about the negative effects of traditional farming practices.
“I used to live in a world where I thought that people wouldn’t feed other people something that’s bad,” he said. “But, now I know that we are addicted to quickness and convenience in our society. We can’t resist it. And, I’m no exception”
So, when a friend suggested a wandering lifestyle of raising goats to walk on public and private land, Chris was in. Starting with “a rag tag herd of nine mangy goats and a lamb,” a small pick up truck, and a 12-foot teepee, Chris and a couple of friends began their journey in November of 2017 on the Umatilla River in Oregon. After just a short time they noticed a marked improvement in the health of their goats as they rekindled a connection with nature. The following spring, they made their way to various primitive skills gatherings where they found others who shared their ideals. These gatherings are now a highlight of Chris’ life, allowing him to connect with like-minded people.
Chris now travels solo with his herd and looks forward to long walks over beautiful mountain passes and meetings with interesting people along the way. He is working toward a lifestyle that allows him to come and go as he chooses, traveling and meeting others without the burden of planning and committing. He enjoys bringing his herd to Pine Street Woods to contribute to KLT’s out of the box land management strategy. In fact, this is the only commitment he intends to make this year.
“I’ve done thru-hiking and long distance bicycling, but I was always missing something. You have to stop sometime and work so you can pay the bills. Now, I have everything I need and enough to share with my friends,” he said.
Traveling with animals affords him the ability to live a sustainable life. He feeds on berries, greens, and other wild foods, and obtains fats and protein from the milk and meat of his herd. In fact, he has been slowly reducing the herd size so that he can increase the number of larger animals with the goal of eliminating the need for a vehicle. He still goes to grocery stores (more than he would like) for the conveniences they offer.
“I thought I blew the engine recently and I was disappointed on the one hand, but also ready to offload the burden of a truck,” he laughed.
Photo Credit: Fiona Hicks
Chris now spends his winters in the low country where his animals can fill up on evergreen Himalyan blackberry, sometimes supplemented with a little hay. He typically spends some of the peak summer season in the high country where he enjoys the high fresh air and clean water that comes with it.
“There’s so much life up there. It’s something really special. I think everyone should try it: go up to about 5 to 7 thousand feet up in the mountains for those two months, mid July through mid September, just once in your life. You’ll forge a connection with the land and you’ll never be the same.”
