GREEN BAY (NBC 26) — Before the snow falls, the shepherds at Wooly Green Grazers are moving the sheep from Renard Island off the Port of Green Bay before the temperature drops and starts getting wet.
The shepherds say they learned a lot over the season, and they hope to return next year.
One blade of grass at a time, Roxie Emunson's goats and sheep were able to graze the overgrown grass and weeds on Renard Island. It's a project Brown County kicked off in May instead of contracting a company and crew to keep it mowed during the warmer months.
"Probably the first month was a little overwhelming, and now I'm like, "no, we accomplished it. We did exactly what we set out to do," said Wooly Green Grazers Shepherd Roxie Emunson.
Roxie and her husband, Daniel, own Wooly Green Grazers, and they underbid this project nearly $10,000, and it ended up saving Brown County taxpayers.
Brown County Port & Resource Recovery Business Development Manager Mark Walter says he's pleased with what they've accomplished.
"Actually, I'm feeling really good about this. I think it's been a really positive experience," Walter said.
Walter says Brown County would like to develop the island for people to eventually visit.
The 55-acre space was once used to keep dredged sediment from the Fox River and the Bay of Green Bay for a number of years, but it was eventually capped with clean soil.
Until the island is revitalized, Brown County is responsible for keeping the 55-acre island maintained.
"It looks like a lot of the 8-foot, 6-foot tall weeds that were out here were pretty well knocked back, and that's what we really wanted to do," Walter said.
Emunson says they started with 20 sheep, and then they eventually worked with other groups to bring in goats and more sheep.
At the very most, they had more than 150 goats and sheep on the island.
Emunson says she learned a lot over the past few months, but now it's time to move the animals back home where they can find shelter from the weather.
"The weather's coming. Maybe if it was just snow or just rain we could stay out here a bit, but because it's going to be a mix and we don't have shelter out here it's just officially time to go," Emunson said.
Walter says next year they'll start the bidding process a bit earlier in hopes of getting the grazing started sooner.
Emunson says they'd love to come back next year, and they hope to win the bid once again.
