Grant to fund ovine ‘weed-eaters’ at Helen Putnam Park

Part of the $100,000 gift will go toward a flock of sheep to keep poison oak in check.|

Sonoma County officials earlier this month met their goal in a campaign to raise $50,000 to match a grant from an anonymous supporter of Helen Putnam Regional Park.

Parkgoers can see their donations in action in coming weeks as a Petaluma-based shepherd will bring a flock of four-legged weed-eaters to help combat poison oak, boost soil health and quell fire danger in one of the first of a series of projects to be funded by the $100,000 gift.

“We are just so gratified to the residents of Petaluma for being enthusiastic about this challenge grant,” Sonoma County Regional Parks Foundation Executive Director Melissa Kelley said. “The reason we’ve been so successful is because people in the community feel so strongly about keeping a healthy and thriving park.”

Since the two-year matching grant was pledged in June, 243 individual donors helped the foundation meet its goal in a quicker-than-anticipated time frame, Kelley said.

The foundation is independent from Sonoma County Regional Parks, but parks planners are tasked with spending the grant money, which will be used for landscape management, trail renovation, enhancements to the pond and the surrounding oak trees and to install interpretative signs during the course of the next two years.

Though the matching grant was released in $10,000 increments, work has been put on hold because of the abundant rains, Sonoma County Regional Parks Planner Karen Davis-Brown said. The wet weather has also brought with it a lush crop of poison oak and weeds, and in mid- to late-May, Aaron Gilliam of Sweetgrass Grazing will bring 400 sheep to graze in the park.

Gilliam, who described his operation as a “one man and many sheep show,” uses portable fencing to target grazing efforts and to contain the sheep he rents from area ranchers. This will be the second year Gilliam has brought flocks to the park, where he camps overnight to watch over the animals, a sight that often piques the interest of passing hikers, Sonoma County Regional Parks Natural Resources Program Coordinator Hattie Brown said.

This year’s effort, funded with $10,000 from the challenge grant, will also include the installation of signs to explain the benefits of the weed control method, Brown said.

“It’s meeting multiple natural resource goals,” she said.

Gilliam rotates his flock from grazing on poison oak or thistle to areas with other foliage to help balance their digestion. As the animals move through the park, their manure acts as fertilizer while their hooves tamp down grasses to protect the soil, which in turn promotes the growth of beneficial plants, he said.

“My focus is really on supporting soil health because I believe that those plants we’re trying to get rid of are really only symptoms of reduced soil health,” he said.

Sonoma County Supervisor David Rabbitt, whose district includes the 216-acre park, expressed excitement about the grant-funded projects.

“It’s really just making sure the park that is highly used is as up-to-date and ready to go as possible,” he said. “I think it’s an absolutely wonderful thing.”

Kelley said the foundation hopes to continue on the momentum from the challenge grant campaign, and officials are considering launching further fundraising efforts. Davis-Brown said that while the $100,000 allows planners to implement a wide range of improvements, additional funding will most likely be necessary to tackle the full network of trails and to beautify the main parking lot and trail head.

“(Helen Putnam) is an important place that has meaning in people’s lives,” Kelley said. “And because of that, they want to see it thrive. They don’t want to run through poison oak and they understand the challenges we’re facing. They don’t have to be convinced there’s an issue there and that it needs to be addressed. They know they can make this contribution to see a change.”

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