A Passport to a Regenerative Future

If you hang out on fiber-related social media long enough, you'll run into someone who is looking for a highly specific type of wool. And a passport stamp?

ISO: Teeswater fleece with passport stamp.

This is the Livestock Conservancy's brilliant program to help the survival of heritage breeds of sheep. If their wool is in demand, farmers will continue to raise these breeds. It makes it worth it to shear and prep wool from niche breeds if there's a ready market for the wool.

To encourage people to try all the different heritage breeds out there, the Livestock Conservancy has a Shave'Em to Save'Em program passport, a small book where you can collect stamps for each type of wool you purchase and try. My passport has 23 breeds, 5 that are identified as critical, 11 on as threatened, and the rest either on the watch list or recovering. The Gulf Coast Native I purchased from our local farmers' market is on the "critical" list."

(And, sadly, the farmer didn't have a passport stamp for his fleece, so I still need that one!)

The important thing about heritage livestock is that they play a significant role in genetic diversity and resiliency. According to the Livestock Conservancy, 1 in 5 breeds of the world's farm animals is on the verge of extinction.

The Gulf Coast Native sheep, for example, are a descendant of Scottish Highland and perhaps Spanish Churro that have adapted very well to the heat and humidity of the south. Sheep aren't usually very adaptable, so that makes this breed unique... possibly in ways that are vital in a changing climate.

After I finish processing and working with my current two fleeces, I'm eyeing American Karakul to spin and weave.