Originally posted Oct 13, 2015 by Krysta Cossitt / Website: https://sputniknews.com/environment/201502031017680890/
Last week 100s of goats ate their way through the Roxborough Park neighborhood taking down overgrown scrub oak and demolishing weeds. The Roxborough Park Foundation hired Goat Green LLC’s goats to help reduce and remove wildfire fuels in an environmentally friendly way.
Lani Malmberg is the owner of the goats and the trained border collies that help run the operation. Electric fences were set up around areas that were chosen by the neighborhood’s Fire Mitigation Committee which helped keep the goats in their specific areas. The goats made their way through common areas within the neighborhood as well as private residences this year.
The obvious benefit of using goats is the simple fact that harmful herbicides and pesticides aren’t being used. But there are many other benefits. Goats eat vegetation (including noxious weeds and poisonous plants) down to the ground without ripping up the root system which helps maintain the soil. Their scat is an added benefit, acting as a fertilizer. Additionally, their hooves aerate and compact the soil preventing erosion.
Video courtesy of Colorado Public Radio
