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ZIMMERMAN, Minn. 鈥� In an effort to restore native prairie habitat at , two Sherburne County organizations have collaborated to receive a grant that has been used for a number of different restoration efforts.

That includes conservation grazing by 200 to 400 goats and sheep.

鈥�(It鈥檚) an organic method of preparing a site for native prairie restoration is conservation grazing," said Gina Hugo, parks coordinator for the Sherburne County Parks and Recreation Department. "So we, essentially, want the animals to wreck a pasture to help by eating it down to just the nub.

鈥淭hey ate it right down to the soil and we did that three times now.鈥�

Contributed / Sherburne County

The focused on restoring and enhancing diverse native habitat while benefiting pollinators and insects.

The first grazing was in mid-August 2022 and that continued for a number of other instances, according to Hugo and Frances Gerdes, who served as the project organizer and planner with the

Most recently, those animals returned in the spring to trample in native seed that was installed and graze down any of the unwanted vegetation, according to Gerdes.

And, there鈥檚 a possibility that the goats and sheep will return next spring to open up the canopy and allow for further germination, Gerdes said.

While the prescribed burn, three conservation grazing sessions and seeding has been completed, the project will continue to develop.

鈥淧rairies evolved over many, many years and they are always changing. They鈥檙e really dynamic and they always need that disturbance regime, and so that鈥檚 something we鈥檒l continue to monitor,鈥� Hugo said.

Contributed / MNL Corp

Grazing is thought to be re-emerging, according to Hugo.

鈥�(Grazing) is something that maybe used to be done before we had synthetic chemicals and before we had gas-powered cultivation. I think animals were probably used pretty regularly to eat down an area and then convert the vegetation type,鈥� Gerdes said. 鈥淏ut, now it鈥檚 reemerging for areas that want to avoid chemical application and can鈥檛 do mechanical site prep.鈥�

The park is highly used by people walking their dogs or children playing, Gerdes said.

鈥淚t鈥檚 just too steep of ground to work or mow or do anything with equipment. So this was a great way because goats and sheep are pretty agile. They can work steep slopes without any problems,鈥� Gerdes said.

Throughout the process, Hugo said they saw more benefit with sheep grazing as opposed to goats, because the former typically does a better job on grassy types of vegetation.

The animals used for conservation grazing were contracted by

鈥淗aving an experienced herdsman or herds company is really valuable in knowing what kind of animals and what kind of densities to apply,鈥� Hugo said.

Before the grazing took place first last summer, a prescribed fire burn was conducted in July of that year, to prevent bush and trees from overtaking the prairie and the buildup of dead vegetation that encourages weeds.

鈥淥nce a prairie is more established, we usually say that鈥檚 about three to five years. Then after that, some kind of disturbance regime happens 鈥� So a fire one year, grazing one year, maybe mowing one year and continuing on throughout the life of the prairie,鈥� Hugo said.

Contributed / Sherburne County

This past spring, planting took place as part of the project, with some of the seeds including and

When thinking about the seed mixes, Gerdes said they were intentional in choosing seeds that are beneficial to at-risk species. Such as the the first federally endangered species, Gerdes said.

鈥淲e know it is within Sherburne County, it has been identified in the Sand Dunes State Forest 鈥� So we know some specific species that it really likes,鈥� Gerdes said.

Other species included the , which is confined to a large complex of sand dunes restricted to an isolated population in Sherburne County, according to the Minnesota Department of Resources. To keep that butterfly, which is considered small with a robust body in the area, Gerdes said was planted.

鈥淭here鈥檚 a lot of thinking when you鈥檙e creating a seed mix. You really have to think about 鈥極K, what kind of insects and wildlife do I want to attract?鈥� 鈥� Gerdes said. 鈥�... So a lot of thought went into planning these seed mixes that are going to be very diverse and have flowers blooming really early in the spring, all the way to late in the fall.鈥�

Contributed / MNL Corp

The grant, a is a program focused on restoring and enhancing diverse native habitat on conservation lands and natural areas strategically located across Minnesota to address declining pollinators and other beneficial insects, according to the Minnesota Board of Water and Soil Resources.

The grant was proposed to be used for site assessment, vegetation removal, seedbed preparation, seeding and planting, establishment and aftercare and long-term management.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 kind of the one thing about the grant funding we received, they鈥檙e very interested in kind of bringing back these more organic methods because there鈥檚 a lot of research coming out about the negatives of using so much chemical herbicides,鈥� Gerdes said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e really lucky we are kind of able to experiment on using this type of method with this funding that we have available for us.鈥�

Funding was made possible through an appropriation from the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund.

Grams Regional Park is northeast of Zimmerman.