The heck with Smokey Bear, check this out. One of the major causes of
wild fires is allowing brush to build up in forests and open lands. Well
goats love it.
http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2006/07/02/news/inland/20_02_307_1_
06.txt
Goats not a baaaaad idea for Scripps Ranch brush clearing
By: ANDREW PETERSON - For the North County Times
SCRIPPS RANCH ---- A boisterous herd of goats took center stage in a
Scripps Ranch cul-de-sac Saturday before TV cameras and cheering
residents who hope the hungry herbivores will aid the community's
ongoing effort to protect itself from wildfires.
The devastating 2003 Cedar fire remains a vivid memory for Scripps Ranch
residents. Less than two weeks into the summer season of 2006, the hills
and hollows of this upscale enclave are again covered in brown,
combustible vegetation.
"After losing every single thing I've ever owned in my life in the 2003
Cedar fire, one wildfire was more than enough for me," said Karen
Reimus, a commercial contract litigator. She and three other homeowners
formed The Whispering Ridge South chapter of the Scripps Ranch Fire Safe
Council to explore ways to prepare for and better withstand the next big
wildfire.
Goats, for now, represent an unconventional defense against this threat.
But the results of the Whispering Ridge chapter's research so convinced
them of the animals' efficacy that the council's treasurer, Richard
Cruz, said it wasn't a matter of whether they would be used again, but
when and where. The 13 1/2 hillside acres the herd began grazing just
past Oakfort Court represents only a small fraction of the local terrain
in need of clearing.
"It's the most environmentally-friendly way to clear, other than fire,"
said J.P. Lapeyre, who heads up the Whispering Ridge chapter. "We're not
going to do any controlled burns."
Homeowners here learned a hard lesson three years ago about the dangers
of depending on government agencies.
"If you really want to address fire safety, and you want to make
yourself as fire-safe as possible, homeowners have to take the lead,"
said Reimus.
Her group had to clear several jurisdictional and bureaucratic hurdles
to persuade the city of San Diego, which owned much of the adjacent
land, to sanction the use of goats for brush clearance.
"We had to jump through a fair amount of hoops," Reimus said. She
singled out Councilman Brian Maienschein for his support. "He really
helped us cut through the red tape."
There remained the matter of fund-raising. Reimus and her group went
door-to-door in their neighborhood, asking $200 per person to rent a
herd of goats.
"We had a very, very good rate of contribution," she said.
The contractor they eventually found, ELM Goats (formerly known as The
Rocky Spot Ranch -- http://www.elmgoats.com/), is a small brush
abatement company that has worked with municipalities, homeowners
associations, commercial companies, and private parties since 1999.
Renting the goats, while not cheap, was more affordable than the only
other alternative seriously considered ---- hand-clearing.
"For most people, economics are important right now," said Reimus. "Not
everybody has a ton of extra money laying around after rebuilding their
homes."
The environmental impact of hand-clearing also worked against it.
"For the hilly terrain, hand-clearing means a lot of heavy equipment and
people," Reimus said.
Secondary aesthetic issues also played a part: between the mechanized
ruckus of chainsaw-wielding work crews and the placid chewing of the
goat herd, the goats won hands-down.
All of which paved the way for their grand entrance at 10 a.m. Saturday,
down a pathway marked beforehand by orange traffic cones attended by
children eagerly awaiting the goats' arrival.
"We're by the cones so we can hold the fences up when the goats go down
here," said Evan Rayder, aged 7. Asked what he thought about the goats,
he shrugged. "I don't know, I think they're just gonna chow down like a
buffet."
Minutes later, led in pied-piper fashion by rough-hewn ELM employees
with deep tans dropping mats of alfalfa hay in front of them, a herd of
perhaps 200 goats appeared over a nearby rise and merrily crossed
Semillon Boulevard on their way to their meal, seemingly oblivious to
the delighted onlookers and the honking horn of a lone disgruntled
motorist held up by their passing.
In this very modern American suburb, the scene had a charmingly old-
world unreality about it ---- but it seems likely to be repeated many
times in the coming months of this hot, dry summer.
--
Up with liberty!
Down with liberalism, socialism and communism!
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