The city is working with Goat Green LLC to get 220 goats this summer at a cost of $50,000
By Lucas High May 20, 2014
CASPER, Wyo. — The City of Cheyenne is turning to livestock to help mitigate weeds, and keep vegetation down.
The city is in the process of bringing back a program that uses grazing animals to manage vegetation along the Dry Creek basin.
Goats are being used in the capital city, near the Dry Creek and Crow Creek areas.
City officials say that, as they graze, the goats eat the grown vegetation, including noxious weeds, which helps to keep floodwaters down.
“The goats cut down on invasive weeds that can take over the watershed area,” a press release from the City of Cheyenne says. “And in watershed areas, their seeds are able to spread to a wider area. Utilizing goats for this purpose is also substantially less expensive than human labor.”
There will be two herds of goats in Cheyenne. One will start along Dry Creek and Dell Range and move east. The second group of goats will be located at the Crow Creek and Ames Avenue underpass.
The goats will be in the area for about a month and are funded through a Fifth Penny Sales Tax in Cheyenne.
The city says that the goats will be contained to specific areas using a portable electric fence and trained border collies.
