Hundreds of Sheep To Clear Arrowcreek Hills
- A flock will graze Arrowcreek hillsides next week to clear brush and reduce wildfire fuel risk. - Officials say hundreds of sheep and herders will be deployed across private and public slopes for vegetation management. - City leaders call it an ecological and fire-safety strategy while neighbors weigh noise and traffic impacts (patch.com).
About 900 sheep are headed to Reno’s Arrowcreek hills on April 27 to eat down brush and weeds before fire season. (fs.usda.gov) The flock will graze the Arrowhawk Fuels Reduction Project west of the Arrowcreek community, in the Thomas Creek and Whites Creek watersheds north of Timberline Road, the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest said April 21. Herders from Borda Land and Sheep Company of Gardnerville will supervise the operation. (fs.usda.gov) The Forest Service said sheep can reach steep slopes and rough ground that crews and machinery cannot handle as easily. The animals are being used to knock back invasive weeds and other fine fuels that can help fires spread quickly. (fs.usda.gov; kunr.org) In the Great Basin, cheatgrass is a major target because it dries out early and can carry fire fast across open ground. KUNR reported in 2025 that sheep working around Reno, Carson City and Douglas County graze more than 4,000 acres between April and June. (kunr.org) Arrowcreek sits along the wildland-urban interface, where houses meet fire-prone open land, and agencies around Reno have been adding fuel-reduction projects ahead of summer. Truckee Meadows Fire & Rescue and other regional agencies have also continued pile-burning and other mitigation work this year. (tmfpd.us; nevadafireinfo.org) This is not a one-off experiment in the neighborhood. The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest announced the same Arrowhawk sheep-grazing project in 2020, 2025 and now again in 2026, showing the tactic has become part of its regular spring fire-mitigation program. (content.govdelivery.com; fs.usda.gov; fs.usda.gov) The Forest Service told residents to keep dogs leashed while the flock is in place, a sign that the grazing will happen close enough to neighborhoods and trails for regular public contact. Local coverage has also noted that nearby residents are weighing the tradeoff between fire prevention and short-term concerns such as noise and traffic. (fs.usda.gov; patch.com) For now, the schedule is simple: the sheep arrive April 27, graze the hills above Arrowcreek under herder supervision, and leave after stripping down some of the vegetation that firefighters worry about most each spring. (fs.usda.gov)
