We always seem to be trying to create artificial ways of doing things which nature does in a more efficient way. For example, bee’s are very good at pollinating flowers, but they are endangered. However, instead of trying to save the bees people decided to try creating artificial bees. Another example is using people with axes and wood chippers to clean up the underbrush in the California forests instead of natural means. Obviously that approach is quite labour intensive and expensive so folks have been looking for other options.
In California they finally realized that all they had to do was release a bunch of goats in the forest and they would eat all the underbrush that was a fire hazard. During a test near Lake Oroville in Northern California, between 350 and 400 goats cleared nearly five acres of land which is a lot cheaper and more efficient than using humans. It is ecofriendly, you don’t have any major running costs (other than overseeing the goats) and the output from all the feeding is good fertilizer.
The initiative is part of the state’s “Fuel Load Management Plan,” started in 2012, which is aimed at reducing large patches of overgrowth throughout the state — a major source of fuel to wildfire spread. Originally, the state used boots-on-the-ground crews of people armed with chainsaws and wood chippers to clear brush. But California has decided that in some areas, it’s goats, not humans, that can help the most. “They eat everything,” Kryssy Mache, an environmental scientist at the California Department of Water Resources, told VICE News. And they can also reach up to five feet in the air to nibble tree branches. “It’s just another cool concept that we’re using. It’s not just humans going out and making the difference — we can also use goats.” But the goats are usually just Phase One. In the fall, human crews will come in and trim up area that goats cleared to ensure it remains less vulnerable to fire, according to the DWR.
Humans will still be required for the final clean up but the effort is a lot less than what would be needed without the goats clearing the way first.
Source: How an Army of Goats Could Help Prevent California Wildfires
– Suramya