Sheep grazing for vegetation management in the northern forests of British Columbia and Alberta

Abstract

Vegetation management treatments are applied on a large proportion of regenerated sites in British Columbia and Alberta to improve survival and early growth of conifers and to meet provincial standards. Conventional techniques like manual brushing and chemical herbicides continue to be widely applied. However, other less familiar methods like sheep grazing can also be a viable option on some sites. Sheep grazing has been demonstrated to offer good to excellent control of both herbaceous and woody vegetation, provided certain conditions are met. Specifically, the dominant vegetation must be palatable to the sheep, the large- and small-scale topography must be relatively even, the treatment must be carried out before the crop trees become severely suppressed or damaged and the animals must be effectively supervised. It is our position that there is an opportunity to increase the use of sheep grazing for vegetation control in some regions of the northern forests of British Columbia and Alberta, thus providing another viable option for forest managers.