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By Kristin M. Hall

The Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. 鈥� Along the Cumberland River just north of downtown Nashville, tourists on party pontoons can gaze at the recognizable skyline, but they also can see something a little less expected: hundreds of sheep nibbling on the grass along the riverbank.

The urban sheepherder who manages this flock, Zach Richardson, said the boats鈥� guides sometimes will go out of their way to let their passengers get a closer glimpse of the聽Nashville Chew Crew聽grazing a few hundred yards away from densely populated residential and commercial buildings.

The joy people get from watching sheep graze is partly why they are becoming trendy workers in some urban areas.

鈥淓verybody that comes out here and experiences the sheep, they enjoy it more than they would someone on a zero-turn mower or a guy with a leaf blower or a weed eater,鈥� Richardson said.

Using sheep for prescribed grazing is not a new landscaping method, but more urban communities are opting for it to handle land management concerns such as invasive species,聽wildfire risks, protection of native vegetation and animal habitats, and maintenance of historic sites.

Nashville鈥檚 parks department hired the Chew Crew in 2017 to help maintain Fort Negley, a Civil War-era Union聽fortification聽that had weeds growing between and along its stones that lawnmowers could easily chip. Sheep now graze about 150 acres of city property annually, including in the historic Nashville City Cemetery.

鈥淚t is a more environmentally sustainable way to care for the green space and oftentimes is cheaper than doing it with handheld equipment and staff,鈥� said Jim Hester, assistant director of Metro Nashville Parks.

Living among the sheep 鈥� and often blending in 鈥� are the Chew Crew鈥檚 livestock guardian dogs, Anatolian shepherds, who stay with them 24/7 to keep away nosy intruders (both the two-legged and the four-legged kinds). The flock is comprised of hair sheep, a聽type of breed聽that naturally sheds its hair fibers and often is used for meat.

Another important canine employee is Duggie, the border collie. With only a few whistles and commands from Richardson, Duggie can control the whole flock when they need to be moved, separated or loaded onto a trailer.

Across the country, another municipality also has become reliant on these hoofed nibblers. Santa Barbara, California, has been using聽grazing聽sheep for about seven years as one way to manage land buffers that can slow or halt the spread of wildfires.

鈥淭he community loves the grazers and it鈥檚 kind of a great way of community engagement,鈥� said Monique O鈥機onner, open space planner for the city鈥檚 parks and recreation department. 鈥淚t’s kind of a new shiny way of land management.鈥�

The grazed areas can change how fire moves, said Mark von Tillow, the wildland specialist for the Santa Barbara City Fire Department.

鈥淪o, if a fire is coming down the hill and it鈥檚 going through a full brush field, and then all of a sudden it hits grazed area that鈥檚 sort of broken up vegetation, the fire behavior reacts drastically and drops to the ground,鈥� von Tillow said. 鈥淭hat gives firefighters a chance to attack the fire.鈥�

Even some universities have tried out herds of goats and sheep on campus property. In 2010, the University of Georgia had a privet problem that was overtaking a section of the campus not used by students or staff and pushing out native plants, said Kevin Kirsche, the school鈥檚 director of sustainability.

Rather than using chemicals or mowers, Kirsche said they hired Jennif Chandler to send in a herd of goats to strip the bark off the privet, stomp on roots and defoliate the branches.

鈥淏ringing the goats to the site was an alternative means of removing invasive plants in a way that was nontoxic to the environment and friendly to people,鈥� Kirsche said.

Around the same time, Richardson, who at the time was a University of Georgia student studying landscape architecture, was inspired to create his聽own goat grazing business. The goats became the most popular four-legged creatures on campus, he said.

Richardson, who moved his company to Nashville after attaining his degree, now prefers sheep over goats. Sheep are more flock-oriented and aren鈥檛 inclined to climb and explore as much as goats.

鈥淚’ll never own another goat,鈥� he admitted. 鈥淭hey are like little Houdinis. It鈥檚 like trying to fence in water.鈥�

But sheep are not a silver bullet for all cities and their lands, according to O鈥機onner.

鈥淲e want to educate the public on why we鈥檙e choosing to graze where we鈥檙e grazing,鈥� she said.

Not every urban site is ideal. Chandler owns聽City Sheep and Goat聽in Colbert, Georgia, about 12.4 miles northeast of the university鈥檚 campus in Athens, where her sheep graze on mostly residential properties and community spaces.

In 2015, some of her sheep were attacked and killed by dogs who got through the electric fencing while in a public park. Those kinds of incidents have been rare, she added.

The sheep need to be moved regularly because they tire of the same plants 鈥� and relocation reduces the chances of a predator attack, Chandler said.

Hundreds of sheep can impact the environment by spreading seeds. The city of Santa Barbara performs environment surveys before bringing in grazers since they can also affect bird habitats and nests.

鈥淭hrowing like 500 sheep into an area is a much larger impact on the land and those soils than our native herbivores would have,鈥� O鈥機onner said.

Along the levee of the Cumberland River, the side of the greenway where the park uses mowers looks manicured like a golf course. On the other side where the Chew Crew ewes are munching, an ecosystem is flourishing.

鈥淭here鈥檚 rabbits, butterflies, groundhogs, turtles, nesting birds,鈥� Richardson said. 鈥淭he list goes on. It鈥檚 way more diverse. Even though we鈥檝e removed some of the vegetation, there鈥檚 still a habitat that can support wildlife.鈥�