Baaaaa-ck to the drawing board?

By Ben Hillyer (Contact) | The Natchez Democrat

Published Friday, August 14, 2009

When it comes to grass cutting, maybe it’s time the city looks outside of the box and into the stable.

The use of sheep and goats to maintain city parks and roadsides has become a fashion of sorts in these bleak economic times.

Cities on the west coast, east coast and in areas between have dusted off their shepherds’ crooks and put their local herds to work.

The salary is cheap after all — only weeds and grass.

It is an interesting idea considering Natchez’s current predicament.

For weeks, city leaders have decried the amount of money the city spends cutting grass. Hundreds of thousands of dollars are gobbled up manicuring the city’s parks and baseball fields.

Led by Alderman Dan Dillard, the board hopes to reduce costs by hiring the work out to a private workforce.

While the aldermen may only be considering local private contractors for the job, a fully experienced and available workforce awaits a mere three hours away in the tiny town of Parks, La., in St. Martin Parish.

That was the thought I had when I read the story about Parks’ municipal herd of sheep. The story on page 8A in today’s edition details the town’s effort to sell part of its herd to another owner in need of a little grass cutting.

A man before his time, Parks public works superintendent Bobby Champagne saw a benefit to the four-legged employees 20 years ago. Since then the sheep have provided landscape services beneath the town’s water tower, keeping the lawn clean and manicured.

Evidently they have done a good job. With a herd of 40 sheep, Parks is looking to farm out 15 well-trained landscapers.

If the city is to consider this option, they better do so quickly. Parks is accepting sealed offers until 3 p.m. Friday.

Who knows? The city could be the next in the line of local governments implementing creative ideas to keep the grass cut.

In recent years the rising cost of fuel, shrinking labor forces and a growing interest in environmentally friendly landscaping techniques have led cities like San Jose, Calif., and counties like Carroll County in Maryland to the herd mentality.

This summer the Maryland State Highway Administration is renting a herd of goats and sheep to control invasive weeds in one of Carroll County’s wetland areas.

San Jose is enlisting goats and sheep to graze more than 600 acres this year.

According to the Federal Highway Administration, transportation departments in five states — Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New Mexico and Oregon — have used grazing animals to minimize roadside vegetation.

These are just a few examples of how people are creatively approaching difficult challenges.

In other areas of the country, neighbors are pitching in with their own lawn mowers to help maintain town medians.

Even if such options are deemed inappropriate for Natchez, they demonstrate how even the most difficult of challenges can benefit from a little creative thinking.

Instead of limiting themselves to the same old approaches, these municipalities dared to come up with new, innovative ideas — new ideas that are as old as sheep herding.

And they turned heads in the process.

Perhaps Natchez could add another attraction to its proposed recreation complex — a petting zoo.

Ben Hillyer is the Web editor of The Natchez Democrat. He can be reached at 601-445-3540 or at ben.hillyer@natchezdemocrat.com.