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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsCalifornia Town Launches 'Goat Fund Me' Campaign to Prevent Wildfires
https://www.care2.com/causes/california-town-launches-goat-fund-me-campaign-to-prevent-wildfires.htmlAfter the Camp Firethe deadliest and most destructive wildfire in Californias historyburned over 153,000 acres and took at least 88 lives in November, the little Northern California town of Nevada City (population: 3,136) came up with a plan. To clear 450 acres of fire-prone, city-owned vegetation, the city would rent goats to eat it. This fire safety measure is not at all unusual. Theres a term for it: prescriptive grazing.
But there was one major problem: nearby ranchers had already rented out all their grazing goats for most of 2019. Goats were only available this winter, and there wouldnt be time for Nevada City to receive a grant to pay for them.
No one is going to save us. FEMA is not coming in, right? The cavalry is not coming in, Vice Mayor Reinette Senum said. Its us or its nobody and this town knows that. Weve seen the cautionary tale of Paradise. We dont want that.
As a way to cover the cost in the interim, Senum launched a Goat Fund Me online campaign last month. Six weeks after the campaign started, it had raised over $16,000 of its $30,000 goal.
Sure beats trying to rake it. We're getting ready to fence in a stretch of our woods for goats and donkeys to clear out the underbrush.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,416 posts)Goats kill a lot of trees.
Phoenix61
(17,019 posts)Raine
(30,540 posts)to clear brush.
Bayard
(22,149 posts)Our woods are so thick, the little trees can't grow. There's tons of blackberries they'll get rid of--a very good thing.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,416 posts)What are the goats taking the place of?
What would normally keep undergrowth in check in that 450 acres, in the absence of our interference?
A small example of unintended circumstances -- ranchers nearly wiped out prairie dogs at one time, and it nearly wiped out the prairie they were trying to save.
http://gprc.org/research/prairie-dogs-the-truth/
Hekate
(90,793 posts)Fire is an integral part of the California ecology, and there are seeds that will not germinate unless they have passed through fire. I don't know about passing through goats, but it's worth a try, given how intensively we have populated this state and the nature of the urban-wildland interface.
Native Americans who lived in these parts for 10,000 years knew all about fire. What's new is us newcomers and our habits.
Anyhow, as to native seeds -- the fire has to be at the right season, iirc. If the seeds contain too much moisture, they just steam to death inside.
And regrowth in some of the burn areas has become an issue. There's too little rain and not enough time before the next burn for the land to recover, in some places.
Give goats a chance. Also alpacas -- my gardener told me that alpacas and their herders have been shipped in from Peru to clear hillsides in some areas.
Hermit-The-Prog
(33,416 posts)I don't know of unintended circumstances, that's why I was asking. I do know about fires -- remember when Yellowstone burned.
Goats are used here to help clear areas, but that's just where the land owner doesn't care about the trees (especially saplings) that are in the area.
Bayard
(22,149 posts)Will be taking the place of weeks of hard manual labor by their humans. And it gives them something to do.
eppur_se_muova
(36,289 posts)shanti
(21,675 posts)Sacramento County too, especially down by the river(s). It's not only for fire control though. This story tells about using them for flood control. We have tons of blackberry bushes in this county and goats love them.
https://www.sacbee.com/news/local/article211922594.html