By JOHN BARTLIT
New Mexico Citizens
for Clean Air & Water
Useful ideas can fade out of sight among the nature of things. This theme has new proof in the case of goats and goat wranglers. Both got good press in recent months for their skilled work protecting Chilean forestland.
The threat was from wildfires around the city of Santa Juana in south-central Chile and the nearby Bosques de Chacay, which is a park noted for its good mountain biking. For some time, fires have been worsening there. In 2011, local farmers and landowners joined in a grassroots effort to fight back. They formed the Chilote Goat Brigade.
Events this year proved the value of that collaboration. U.S. media reported the awful fires around Santa Juana in late summer (February) that left dozens dead, thousands injured, and over a million acres destroyed. The prized forestland was surrounded by fires, but it ended up being the only green spot left. The fire reached the forest but only the first line of trees was really affected, less than 10% of the park. Small fires broke out but did not advance thanks to the goats’ commitment to clearing brush.
Goats are natural wonders for the job. They fare splendidly on steep, rocky hills and gullies. Goats relish brambles as much as sweet peas. They take care of the brush up to six feet off the ground. They cut everything down to a short stubble and then tramp it down more. When the goats leave, little remains behind but some natural fertilizer that contains no live seeds.
Closer to home, goats in the U.S. are also earning a place in the business of wildfire control. Ads found online offer goat services for building firebreaks. A scan of a few ads is a primer on how the business works. I started with an ad for Firehouse Farms in Shawnee, CO, south of Denver. I soon learned some basics of “strategic grazing”” to help ward off wildfire:
- Creates firebreaks
- Reduces fuel loads
- Increases spatial distance between shrubs and trees
- Prunes tree ladder fuels up to six feet off the ground
Prices: $250 per week; $50 to $100 set-up fee – we provide fencing!
Farther west, landscaper goats have been of service for years. Berkeley Lab sits atop 200 acres of California hills. Portions of these hills have been strategically grazed by hired goats for the last 18 summers. Costs each year are roughly $800 an acre. Videos of the goats at work are great fun to watch at Goats Grazing Hills at Berkeley Lab and Firefighting Goat Brigade (Courtesy/ Berkeley Lab, David Stein, & Mashable).
From time to time, an old saying pops to mind: The more things change, the more they stay the same. The very thought suggests that strategic grazing has likely been in the limelight more than a few times before. Good guess. For instance, during World War I, the White House had sheep grazing to maintain the large lawn because the manpower was needed in the war effort. When the war was over, gas-powered lawn mowers and weed whackers soon returned to put the sheep out of their war job.
War jobs fighting wildfire will not be so short-lived.