[CBCNews 08 July 2012] -- Canada: A Saskatoon shepherd and his flock are keeping the area's native grasslands free of weeds and invasive species this summer. Since 2006, the Meewasin Valley Authority has been teaming up with Jared Epp and his sheep to naturally maintain the grasslands at the Beaver Creek Conservation Area outside the city. With the help of his border collies, Epp tends to 106 sheep that graze mostly on non-native plants. "We use them for brush control, weed control [and] invasive grasses," Epp said. "They have a high preference for these types of plants, so they're the perfect tool because they like to eat the plants that are causing us some of our problems." Epp said the sheep are simulating conditions that once helped the area's prairie grasslands thrive, by doing the work that bison herds did hundreds of years ago. "Just to fence off these areas and say, 'We're going to preserve this' doesn't work," he said. "So the management tools [have] gone back to, 'What maintained the prairie for hundreds and hundreds of years before we were so involved with it and living here?'" Comment