See how sheep can cut the fire risk in Hawaii

By Paul Drewes

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    WAIANAE, Hawaii (KITV) — Hawaii is in the middle of fire season. That threat has some in Waianae Valley taking a unique approach to fire prevention: Using wildlife to try to tame wildfires.

In the back of Waianae Valley you will not only find historic archeological sites, you will also find an ancient form of fire prevention – using sheep.

“Our sheep are pretty much our weed whackers, they help us with maintenance,” said A.K. a Farm Manager at Ka’ala Farm.

A.K. herds more than a dozen sheep around Ka’ala Farm. The animals don’t eat kalo, which is the main plant grown there, but they eat everything else.They are used to mow down grass and plants to reduce the fuel load if there is a fire. Because Waianae Valley can turn into a tinder box.

“Every summer we have fires. We’ve had major fires. We had one fire that started about 12 years ago, it came over the ridge and then burned the entire back of the valley. And there was another in 2018 – that Fire was the most devastating,” said Eric Enos, Ka’ala Farms Director.

When fires burned in the valley, fighting them was a challenge and not just because of the hilly landscape. Also because of the archeological sites found around Ka’ala Farm.

“There are numerous heiau and lots other archeological features. In terrain like this, often you’d be able to use a bulldozer to create fire breaks and control the fire.

However, because of the cultural sensitivity, that tool isn’t available for us. So we rely heavily on the helicopters, hand crews and small brush engines to do the job,” said Michael Walker, Statewide Fire Protection Forester for the Dept. of Land and Natural Resources.

Now through federal and local funding, a project is underway to have the sheep create firebreaks for the next time flames sweep through Waianae Valley.

“We’re focusing on the fuel reduction here with this project. By utilizing the sheep to graze down the grass so that the

flame height if it does ignite, the grass is low and there’s the less chance of spotting down wind by heavy winds,” added Walker.

That is a concern especially along Waianae Valley Road where there has been a high number of intentionally set fires over the years.

“Fire is like flooding. It follows certain routes. So, you get to those ignition points through a variety of means, and

cutting the grass is a big job. But you put the sheep in there, and they can nail down the fuel load, in a couple days,” added Enos.

There are some challenges to caring for these living lawnmowers. They have to be protected from stray dogs and from being stolen by humans, but A.K. says the sheep are smart, friendly and do a great job.

“I can put them in an area that would take 2-3 guys to weed whack. It is hard out here, costly with man, machine, and gas, but with these animals we can clear whole sections of space compared to weed whacking,” added A.K.

While there is just a small flock now, the goal is to have hundreds of sheep rotating around parcels in the valley — to not just create fire breaks but one day clear areas of invasive plants so indigenous ones can go back in.

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