Goats help with wildfire mitigation efforts by doing what they do best

After wildfires have devastated several Colorado communities in recent years, some cities are focused on preventing the next big one. Among them is Castle Pines, which is using goats in its ongoing wildfire mitigation efforts.  

Deep into the open space between Castle Pines neighborhoods, many homeowners find a peculiar sight out their window every day.  You might call it a frenzied feast or four-legged free for all, but for Harmony Davis, Russ McKenna, and their 67 goats, it's simply another day's work.  

"We operate on goat time," McKenna said. "Once they've eaten anywhere from 85% to 100% of the target vegetation, that's when we'll move them to a new fence set."  

McKenna and Davis co-own Goats on the Go Denver South, a company hired by the city of Castle Pines and its HOAs. Since June, they've moved their dozens of goats from neighborhood to neighborhood, clearing out weeds and scrub oak.  

"They will strip every leaf and everything else out as high as they can reach," McKenna said. "They will stand on their hind legs and get much higher than I can reach, and if it's edible they will take it off and eat it."  

The ultimate goal is to prevent the next big fire by eliminating many of the fuels.   

"We're trying to take out that ladder fuel so that the fire can't climb the ladder into the canopy and then spread from there," McKenna said. "Without the mitigation, this fire would get very hot, very large, very quickly, and it's something that just can't be attacked by sending in a guy with a hose."  

The efforts could also buy firefighters time if a fire does spark, as well as allow them to fight the flames more directly. Each time the goats go through an open space over the years, it becomes more defensible as well, McKenna maintains. 

"With goats, we have the ability of fuels being managed and cut down to a lower level, so fire is more of a creeping behavior in that fuel," said Eric Hurst, public information officer for South Metro Fire Rescue. "It makes it easier for firefighters to be able to approach a fire, and potentially be able to extinguish it safely and more in a direct fashion." 

While the city first used goats in 2015, this is the first time they've been back in three years. According to McKenna, homeowners have bought in, providing goats with water at times, and even naming some of them. 

"Everybody walks away with a smile on their face and wanting to come back and come up with more questions to ask us," he said. "You ask any homeowner, and they would much rather see this than people in white suits and chainsaws."  

The goats will continue their work in Castle Pines until late fall. The company is fully booked for the rest of this year.  

"Anytime there's a fire our phone rings," McKenna said. "From an industry standpoint, we would be really happy to get some competition or some other affiliates in our organization. Our goal is to get everybody served."