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Burn-offs keep the township safe from out-of-control fires, but they hinder the forest’s ability to regenerate, and thus cannot provide the environment necessary for the diversity of insects, birds and animals that are necessary in a healthy forest on a healthy planet. Restoring the forest also allows for traditional indigenous burns to take place, as the danger created by flammable non-native species has been reduced.
The work being done by the Goathand Cooperative is not only showing stunning results on the forest floor, it’s having much broader effects: the forest’s wildlife is thriving, the goats are healthy and happy, but in addition neighbours previously dubious about the project have come on board, so that new and strong community connections are being made. And as one Cooperative member says in the film, an important re-connection is also being made with nature. “We haven’t always been trammellers of land,” says Patrick Jones. This connection to the soil and to the forest is, he believes, “our way back to sanity”.
From Weedy Forests to Grassy Woodlands offers inspiration to anyone looking for ways to regenerate their own or a commons forest, anyone feeling the urgency of mitigating the potential disasters of forest fires in the most natural way possible, anyone in a locality and position to use goats for that purpose, and just anyone seeking reconnection to the earth that created and sustains us!
** Follow the Goathand Cooprative ** https://goathand.blogspot.com/
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Goatapelli Foundation.
https://goatapellifoundation.org/
The Goatapelli Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, established in 2020 and headquartered in the Rocky Mountain West. We are dedicated to educate, train, re-train, re-skill, and support goat graziers, landowners, land managers, federal and state agencies who are responsible for taking care of the land in weed & fire management in the era of climate change.
This Foundation is founded on two key values.
- A deep appreciation and respect for all living species that share space on this planet.
- To contribute and fearlessly leap-frog over climate change uncertainties through a shift in land management practices. Our focus is on biologically sustainable, non-toxic, dynamic regenerative agriculture activities; replacing the non-sustainable, toxic Industrial Revolution mindset of production agriculture based on exploitation and extraction.
Grazing goats prevent forest fires.
In the face of climate change with less available water and more deadly fires, managed goat herds are an effective wildfire prevention tool with a comparably tiny footprint.
States from Colorado to California are wisely turning to hungry goats to prevent forest fires. Goats have a diverse diet and appetite for all vegetation that makes up the fire fuel ladder. The goats eat and recycle flammable materials in situ to organic matter—or what we like to call “pure gold” that feeds the soil.
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Hungry Firefighting Goats are Helping California Prepare for the 2021 Wildfire Season
Looking to add some fire-proofing to your California ranch? Call a goat!
After the San José State University (SJSU) Fire Weather Research Laboratory announced that the upcoming 2021 wildfire season was “looking grim” for California’s South Bay and Santa Cruz Mountains due to record low moisture levels among the area’s vegetation, one ranch decided to take preventive action.
TomKat Ranch, a 1,800-acre grass-fed cattle ranch and learning laboratory in Pescadero, California, reached out to Goatapelli Foundation, a non-profit that provides opportunities for using managed grazing as a tool to restore and conserve land. In response, Goatapelli sent 850 hungry goats to the TomKat Ranch to get work.
At the ranch, the goats, known as “browsers,” are munching up the property’s dry, potentially combustible vegetation that could help wildfires spread if left untouched.
TomKatRanch
“With some of the worst fires recorded last year, goats are an important eco-friendly tool in our arsenal of fire mitigation strategies,” Kat Taylor, founder of TomKat Ranch, said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. “This Earth Day (April 22), grazing goats are an important reminder of how California can adopt regenerative practices to create a fire resilient ecosystem, improve the health of our lands, and restore natural ecological cycles on which we all depend.”
Goatapelli Foundation’s hoofed firefighters gobble up pounds of vegetation each day, creating firebreaks wherever they work by reducing the volume, thickness, height, and breadth of the ignitable brush. In their wake, the animals leave behind healthier soil and land free of noxious weed vegetation and potential wildfire fuel.
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Gonzalez Brush Busters
City of Ukiah may hire goats to clear vegetation along Rail Trail
The animals will be especially useful for clearing Star Thistle, other invasive species
aced with a shortage of inmate crews available to clear vegetation, the city of Ukiah is considering hiring a herd of goats to remove the dry grass and weeds along the Rail Trail and other properties owned by the city.
“This is already the weirdest year ever, why not get even more creative?” said Public Works Director Tim Eriksen, explaining that the idea for having goats help mitigate the fire danger posed by the dry vegetation was brought to him by Council member Maureen Mulheren.
Eriksen said he was skeptical at first when talking to Mulheren and Tony Gonzalez, the owner of Gonzalez Brush Busters, about using goats to clear the vegetation near the three miles of paved city trail along the railroad tracks, but it soon started to make a lot of sense.
And while at first the goats did not seem affordable, Eriksen said that once more city properties were included, such as the Wastewater Treatment Plant and the former landfill, the price quoted by Gonzalez became within reach.
The contract proposed by Gonzalez is to clear 104 acres for $73,514, or about $700 per acre, using a herd of 230 goats and five guardian dogs.
If the contract is approved by the City Council, Eriksen said the main assistance Gonzalez will need from the city is to help the goats safely cross busy streets like Perkins and Gobbi while continuing along the Rail Trail.
“He told me that with the dogs, it would take about five minutes to get the goats across the street,” said Eriksen, explaining that the city plans to stop traffic for the animals if needed.
City Manager Sage Sangiacomo said the goats will be particularly useful in removing the invasive Star Thistle, because the animals eat the root system.
“And while there are seeds in the ground now, (Gonzales) said that with three years of successive clearing by the goats, the Star Thistle could be eradicated,” Eriksen said.
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Herds of goats reducing California’s wildfire risk one bite at a time
When the El Nino rains fell last winter in California, thick and tall grass grew in the once-parched land, but now that those rains have passed, the grass turned into dry fuel for what could be the start of another tough fire season.
While the late summer and early fall is typically the period with the highest risk for wildfires, the California Department of Forestry and Fire reports the number of acres of scorched land on the properties under its jurisdiction is already up 60 percent from a year ago.
To lessen the threat posed by the brittle underbrush and those thick clumps of grass, landowners and the state are literally removing it bite by bite. Hungry animals are increasingly replacing hand crews, tractors and mechanized weed mowers.
“They just do such a great job,” said Cal Fire Capt. Lucas Spelman. “It’s a more eco-friendly kind of way to clean up vegetation, a lot less noise and those goats allow you to get into areas where mechanized equipment has a hard time getting in there.”
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Demand for Grazing Goats Is Growing Like Wildfire
Ruminants are a righteous way to reduce fire risks
When Mike Canaday started renting goats in 2003, most of the calls he received were from landowners who wanted to clear dense brush on their properties. As word spread about the effectiveness of the four-legged lawnmowers, Canady started fielding questions from prospective customers about whether his herd of 150 goats could eat enough brush to create firebreaks in wildfire-prone areas. The answer was yes. Today, Canaday owns 3,500 Boer, Kiko, LaMancha, and Spanish breeds, and his company, Living Systems Land Management, is so busy that he has to maintain a waiting list for people to rent out his goats. He attributes the growth of his San Francisco Bay Area–based business to a single factor: wildfires.
“We are screaming busy from mid-April to mid-July because of the fires,” he says.
Across California and the West, goats are being dispatched to overgrown patches of land to chomp down vegetation and help create firebreaks to prevent fires from jumping from wildlands to homes and businesses. Thanks to their voracious appetites—goats can eat up to 10 pounds of vegetation per day—and ability to navigate difficult terrain, the ravenous ruminants are on the front lines of fire prevention.
“When we graze goats in an area, all of the fuel is removed before fire season and it doesn’t grow back until the following season—and it’s much safer to have goats graze difficult terrain,” says Kenneth VanWig, chief of the Ventura County Fire Department, one of Canaday’s clients. The fire department began using goats about a decade ago, and VanWig says the four-legged firefighters are the best fire prevention tools available. “We’ve had huge success.”
While there are no statistics on the number of acres goats are clearing or the number of goat rental businesses offering fire prevention services, there is solid data that climate change is increasing the likelihood that fires will become more intense while also lengthening the fire season. In 2018, 43,255 fires (and counting) have been reported nationwide, burning almost 6 million acres—the highest number of fires since 2012.
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WE OFFER PROFESSIONAL LIVESTOCK SERVICES for large-scale projects. We have a herd of over 600 Katahdin sheep that can be brought to your ranch for grazing, which is an effective method for fire risk management and promoting biodiversity in natural spaces. We start with a minimum of 300-400 sheep for projects 50 acres or more and scale up depending on the size of the property, the amount available to graze, and the goals of the project.
Our livestock services are used by The Sea Ranch Homeowner’s Association, large estate owners, California State Parks, Native American/Tribal lands, vineyards, and private and public parklands for fire hazard reduction and habitat restoration.
Fire Risk Management – Sheep are an ecological-friendly way to reduce fire fuels in natural areas such as ranches, nature preserves, California State Parks, and rural communities. By preventing fuel build-up, targeted grazing can minimize the risk of fire hazard. Using sheep to eat grass, brush, and other foliage reduces the chance of a fire breaking out and means there is less fuel to burn, making any fire less intense.
Habitat Restoration – Our sheep graze in a traditional ‘mob’ style with many animals grouped together. The herd eats between 30-70 percent of the biomass available in a pasture or field. As they graze, their hooves press a percentage of the biomass into the ground, allowing water to absorb into the earth and protecting the soil from erosion. The way we move the herd mimics the historic large herbivore behavior in the United States. Our perennial plant base was formed with a natural chaotic grazing behavior like the pattern our sheep follow, which encourages biodiversity.
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Kaos Sheep Outfit
Lake County, CA
Facebook Kaos Sheep Outfit
Instagram @jaimegreywin
Vimeo The Kaos Sheep Outfit
YouTube Kaos Sheep
Article on the Blog Grazing at the Cutting Edge
Run by the dynamic family team of Robert, Jaime, Claire, and Augustus Irwin, Kaos Sheep Outfit is a target grazing company serving Mendocino, Lake, and Colusa Counties in Northern California. By using Australian Corriedale sheep in such surprising places as vineyards, pear and nut orchards, and even on golf courses and for homeowners’ associations, the Irwins are able to run a sustainable business that focuses on the mutually beneficial relationship between plants and animals. They replace fossil-fuel driven mowers with the digestive tract of a sheep, thereby reducing pollution while at the same time fertilizing the land, increasing carbon sequestration, and producing meat and wool for the benefit and betterment of our lives.
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Goats R Us
Goats R Us is a family owned and operated grazing company. Established in 1995, our livestock are used primarily for fuel mitigation and the eradication of undesirable plant species. We provide communities with environmentally friendly vegetation management as well as public education about alternatives to traditional abatement techniques.
The Goats – Specially Bred
Goats R Us has incorporated several different breeds of goats, each selected to contribute desirable traits into the herd. These animals have been selectively bred to create the ultimate grazing machine. Angora goats are our primary stock because of their hardiness and thick mohair, which keeps them comfortable in the chilly northern California winters (they are sheared in the spring to keep them comfortable in the summer). We have cross-bred these Angoras with Pygmy goats, as smaller goats are more desirable in areas where erosion is of concern. In addition, we have bred into our stock Alpine and Spanish goats, for extra hardiness and their ability to thrive on a wide variety of feed sources. Our goats are then divided up into herds that are specifically designed to work in a particular job site.
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TomKat Ranch – using goats in their regenerative practices
Watch as over 800 goats descend on TomKat Ranch, by invitation of course! It’s all part of our regenerative fire mitigation trials.
