UTFFEMT
06-02-2005, 03:56 PM
Goats may build fire line for city
WOODLAND HILLS (AP) — Goats may help protect this city from fire.
The city is considering paying a local rancher for 500 goats to eat a fire protection line around the most vulnerable parts of the city.
The city spent $70,000 two years ago to create fire lines by hand and with machines but the Gambel oak has started to grow back and stands about 5 feet tall.
The goats — at an estimated cost of $9,000 — would be a bargain compared to what the city spent in grant money two years ago, said Fire Chief Jeff Anderson.
Bringing the goats in now would be perhaps the best way to maintain that fire line, Anderson said.
"To me, it is a decision about waiting around for the town to burn down or doing something before the town burns down," Baldwin said.
In 2002, 15 goats were used in a Bureau of Land Management test project around the city.
"The Army has figured out that this is the safest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly way to do fire lines," he said.
Besides eating foliage off the Gambel oak, another advantage of using goats is that their hooves break up dead branches and grind them into the soil, leaving behind a clear fire line.
WOODLAND HILLS (AP) — Goats may help protect this city from fire.
The city is considering paying a local rancher for 500 goats to eat a fire protection line around the most vulnerable parts of the city.
The city spent $70,000 two years ago to create fire lines by hand and with machines but the Gambel oak has started to grow back and stands about 5 feet tall.
The goats — at an estimated cost of $9,000 — would be a bargain compared to what the city spent in grant money two years ago, said Fire Chief Jeff Anderson.
Bringing the goats in now would be perhaps the best way to maintain that fire line, Anderson said.
"To me, it is a decision about waiting around for the town to burn down or doing something before the town burns down," Baldwin said.
In 2002, 15 goats were used in a Bureau of Land Management test project around the city.
"The Army has figured out that this is the safest, cheapest, most environmentally friendly way to do fire lines," he said.
Besides eating foliage off the Gambel oak, another advantage of using goats is that their hooves break up dead branches and grind them into the soil, leaving behind a clear fire line.