Goats are the Latest Land Management Tool in Preventing Wildfires
By AnnMarie Cornejo
An unlikely crew of workers blanketed the forested underbrush of Swanton Pacific Ranch in late June in the latest fire management effort – 960 goats. The hardworking herd was tasked with a crucial assignment: to eat nearly 55 acres of overgrown weeds and invasive plants that could otherwise fuel an impending disaster.
The extent and ferocity of recent catastrophic wildfires, including at Swanton Pacific Ranch in 2020, have elevated the need for improving the health and resiliency of forests both prior to and after wildfire, especially in California’s coastal redwood ecosystems as wildfires become more frequent.
Beth Reynolds (Animal Science, ’05), an animal science lecturer who manages the college’s sheep and goat units, has operated sheep and goat herds as a land management tool since she graduated from Cal Poly. In addition to teaching, she owns a business on the Central Coast that provides grazing services for vegetation management.
Grazing is one of the fire management tools identified for both post-fire and preventative land management treatments at the ranch. Reynolds was contracted for the job – the first time in decades, if not centuries , that such grazing has been used at this scale and intensity at the ranch to treat a widespread area. The modern-day shepherdess and her three guardian dogs were never far from her herd as they worked their way through the brush.
“Overall, there is a huge need for sheep and goats in the area to manage the vegetation,” Reynolds said. “The terrain in some areas is very steep with deep canyons, which means it is not great for cattle to graze but ideal for small ruminants like goats and sheep. There is a lot of opportunity.”
The project was federally funded through funds secured by U.S. Rep. Anna Eschoo to help mitigate wildfires through improved vegetation management. The funding matches a grant from Cal Fire’s Forest Health Program to assist with post-fire recovery efforts at the ranch and to further the ranch’s efforts to bring about sustainable, long-term solutions to the management and stewardship of working landscapes.
“This is a novel treatment of both scale and type for understory fuels management in the coastal forest post catastrophic fire,” said Swanton Pacific Ranch Director Mark Swisher. The project, he said, further highlights the role that the ranch serves as a living laboratory demonstrating leading-edge land stewardship practices. “The value of having students and faculty at the ranch for a project like this, no matter the outcome, has the potential to influence the landscape on a regional level. We are exposing the community and governing agencies to different land management practices that will be of benefit well beyond the scope of what we are doing here.”
Complexities of Grazing
Reynolds and her herd spent four weeks at Swanton Pacific Ranch, swiftly moving through segments of dense vegetation. Electric fencing was moved daily with the help of a handful of students working at the ranch to various quadrants, allowing Reynolds to move the goats as needed.
Daniel Auten, a third-year forest and fire sciences major, helped prepare the area for the goats by using a chainsaw to cut through some of the denser areas. He also helped with herding as needed, as well as the logistics of getting water to each of their pens. Auten, who plans to become a registered forester, said his biggest takeaway from the experience was learning the role that goats play in fuel reduction efforts. “I enjoyed watching the goats eat their way through the brush every day and it was amazing how well they did,” he said. “There are so many benefits to using goats for fuel reduction, I wonder why we don't use them more often.”
The ultimate goal was to provide a fire break off a road at the edge of the property that has been identified as a critical access point for fighting fires in the area. The area, scarred by the CZU Lightning Complex fire that swept through the area in August 2020, was overgrown with thick brush reaching more than six feet high in many areas. Much work had already been done following the fire, removing dead trees and thinning others to promote healthy regrowth.
“We really want to reduce the fuel load so that if, or when, it burns again some of the heat is taken away,” said Nadia Hamey, a registered professional forester who has assisted the ranch as a consultant with forest management for over two decades. “The goats did make a big dent in the area but they also really like to eat the trees.” And while the goats won’t decimate a forest, that may be a setback in areas with young saplings where we are looking to reestablish tree growth, she said, it may work well in other places.
This is the first time Reynold’s herd has worked in a forest. “Part of the challenge was the amount of wood on the ground,” Reynolds said. “Even with a post-fire logging effort to clear the area, a lot of wood debris and branches were still on the ground making it a little more difficult to install the needed fencing to guide the herd.”
Midway through the project Reynolds helped lead a workshop with Hamey and others at the ranch highlighting the project to provide a better understanding of how goat grazing can help reduce fire hazards when used in conjunction with other known methods like prescribed fire, mulching and pile burning. The 50 attendees included regulators, advisors, land managers, faculty, students, and landowners in the Santa Cruz community. “We are all working to create a more resilient community,” Swisher said.
While the goats did devour nearly 55 acres of invasive plants and thistle, there was one catch: the goats didn’t eat one of the most pervasive bushes in the area, commonly called blueblossom. “A lot of brush species are palatable in the winter months but then they flower and get a more bitter taste due to the tannins being released,” Reynolds said. “I was hoping mid-June wouldn’t be too late but they would only eat a little bit before getting to the bark and moving on – leaving the bushes still towering above them.”
Despite the outcome, not all is lost. Reynolds and Animal Science Assistant Professor Zach McFarlane collected samples of the plant – and will collect more throughout the year — to identify its nutritional values which often determine its palatability to animals. “They may munch right through it during a different time of year,” Reynolds said.
“We need all of these tools,” said Hamey, adding that only time will tell if the grazing provides long term benefits to the area depending on regrowth the following spring. “It was a really good trial and there is definitely a place for it at Swanton and all landscapes. We need to improve the cost efficiency of fuels management and it would be groovy if we could figure out how grazing and controlled burns fit into what we are trying to do.”
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