STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Only ewe can prevent forest fires.

That’s the word from some in the sheep industry who want you to imagine the 1,500 sheep you saw trotting down Main Street Ketchum Sunday cloaked in red firefighters hats and yellow firefighter jackets.

Sheep are being used in some places across the West to help prevent wildland fire by grazing target areas, said Liz Wilder, co-owner of Boise River Lamb and the executive director of the Idaho Wool Growers Association.

Peruvian dancers were among those kicking up their heels as the Big Sheep Parade turned the corner at the Fork in the Road.

Sheep are incredible tools for removing understory and other fire fuel, said Wilder.

“Target grazing is becoming quite helpful near schools and other urban areas, in areas that haven’t been grazed and that are now tinderboxes” said Wilder. “They’re using them in solar farms and in vineyards, as the sheep will eat weeds but not the grapevines. And they’ll eat right down a row of lavender plants, never touching the lavender. “

Snow dusted the mountain ridges overlooking East Fork Canyon as people gathered for the Big Sheep Parade, but it failed to reach the streets of Ketchum.

Melinda Springs, who was among those doing crowd control, wiped away a few tears as she watched two riderless horses pass by, honoring her husband Dick Springs and Trailing of the Sheep Festival Co-founder John Peavey, both of whom passed away this past year.

Deida Runswick and her Swiss Valais sheep with its curly horns made her way down Main Street until her sheep decided it didn’t want to go anymore. Then, a friend trotted help and pushed the sheep while Runswick pulled the rest of the way.

“After all these years, seeing the sheep is still my favorite part of the festival,” she said. "They used to be so frisky--we'd be chasing them all over Ketchum. Now, I've heard, they're using older ewes so they're more mellow."

Among those lining the streets was a family of five from Shreveport, La.

“I like seeing the culture,” said Amy Hatfield, who had come with her family to visit her mother Lori Eberharter. “We’ve done a little fishing, which is big in Louisiana. We went to Stanley. And, now, this! It’s wild. But, then, we have Mardi Gras, which is wild, too.”

Last year 46 states and multiple countries came to the Trailing of the Sheep Festival, said the festival’s executive director Laura Musbach Drake.

The Cub Scouts were among the marchers.

The festival was born out of a desire to educate the community about why sheep were parading through the valley every spring and fall to and from summer grazing pastures in the mountains, she said.

“The BCRD wanted to build a bike path on the sheep right-of-way and the sheep ranchers agreed to it but said they would still be using the path. Then, the first year it was paved, John Peavey of the Flat Top Sheep Ranch started getting calls, ‘Your sheep are on MY bike path,’ ” Drake recounted.

Peavey, who was running for state office, sprang into action inviting the community to come  out and learn about the sheep trailing, she said.

“And we’re still educating people about sheep and the sheep industry today,” she added.

The flock huddled together as the group made their way up Main Street.

DID YOU KNOW?

Lamb is the only protein eaten by every religion in the world, according to local sheep ranchers.