Community eco-grazers are restoring Kansas City’s woodland

About a month ago, concerned citizens on Nextdoor, the social app that allows neighbors in a community to connect and exchange information, spotted multiple outings of a sheep roaming freely in the area. One was seen on the Blue River bike path near Bannister Road and another on the Trolley Trail near the Bannister Federal Complex. Commenters in the post’s thread had many questions. Is it a goat or lamb? Where did it come from and how did it get loose? One person commented “Well, he appears to be doing alright, as long as he doesn’t wander upon Bannister Road.” 

In this thread, community members were able to discern that the sheep belonged to a project overseen by Good Oak, in concert with the Heartland Conservation Alliance, in ridding the Heartland Overlook Preserve (HOP) located near 92nd and Grandview Road of invasive bush honeysuckle. 

Good Oak, a land management startup focused on ecological restoration and long-term stewardship based in Kansas City, have been using a flock of sheep for meat as well as restoration grazing work for the last couple of years. 

In the past, among various other projects, the company worked with the city of Parkville, at the Sullivan Nature Sanctuary and Parkville Nature sanctuary, where their flock of sheep was brought in, successfully grazed down invasive plant species, then the area was reseeded with native plants. Good Oak’s plan was to do the same at the HOP in early April, but some things went awry. 

With funding from the Missouri Department of Conservation, operations ran smoothly for three months until a local dog found the sheep in June and began to chase and attack the flock.  A lack of fencing from a neighboring home was to blame, according to Good Oak co-founder Jacob Canyon. Canyon also noted that as a result, three sheep were lost to injuries sustained from the dog and others had scattered along Blue River. Over the course of a few weeks, the remaining sheep were recovered. 

Although the dog owner responsible for this catastrophe was ordered to pay a fine, “we’re still out a couple thousand dollars and dead animals and destroyed equipment and staff time rounding up the sheep,” Canyon said. 

Despite the challenges endured, according to the Heartland Conservation Alliance, Good Oak successfully completed ten acres worth of restoration work at the HOP. 

Conservation grazing is not the sole method of ecological management in remediating invasive species. In conjunction with other restoration techniques (e.g., root removal) and careful supervision from Good Oak, seeding and tree planting took place that contributed to new growth. 

“The transformation of our Oak-Hickory woodland has been impressive, driven by a multispecies team of dedicated individuals (people and sheep) committed to environmental stewardship,” the Heartland Conservation Alliance said in a statement. 

What does this mean for the environment?

The Heartland Overlook preserve contains native flora and fauna that has remained since before European colonization —  so it maintains the original biodiversity of the region. When invasive bush honeysuckle — that has no natural predators to keep it in check — arrives in a healthy and diverse ecosystem like the HOP via winds, water and other animals, it produces a chemical in the soil that inhibits the growth of other plants. If gone unchecked, the next few generations of native plants will die off resulting in the death of the woodland entirely. Good Oak’s restoration work manages this issue by removing the invasive species and replacing them with species native to the area. 

Now that the sheep are back on a farm, they have teed up for another project near south Kansas City. 

Good Oak has begun a larger project in partnership with Powell Gardens and the Burroughs Audubon Society of Greater KC. Within the roughly 970 acres of land that Powell Gardens owns, a portion has been fallow for many years, much of it under real pressure from invasive species, Canyon says. 

“We have developed a habitat management plan with the Audubon Society,” Canyon told the Telegraph. “So we’re grazing sheep and cattle on the land as we do this very kind of similar restoration work.” 

The habitat management plan includes removing thickets of bush honeysuckle, autumn olive, bradford pear and other invasive species from the area, sowing native seeds and, in some cases, planting native trees. Currently, Good Oak is doing this work on a scale of a couple hundred acres. 

Canyon also explained why he, with the other members of Good Oak, do this work. 

“I really fell in love with our native species and insects and seeing what a diverse healthy landscape looks like, and how much work goes into caring for and maintaining it, “ Canyon said. “We get to make the world a better place, make the landscape more beautiful and healthy, and produce new, delicious, ethical meat in the process that actually feeds people.”