Using Goats to Open an Idaho Forest

At Pitchstone Waters near Yellowstone Park in Idaho, we use goats to clear brush, weeds, and stimulate grasses on forest floors. Sixth in a series.

 

Goats Grazing Idaho Forests from Christopher Gill on Vimeo.

 

NOTE: this post was originally published to this site on June 29, 2020.

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Comments
  • Hi Chris, very interesting & very practical. Has this continued to be a successful solution with many benefits obvious in clearing Fire fuel & undergrowth & stimulating grass regeneration. Have the goats worked their way deeper into the woods in recent years?

    • Hello Kym,

      • Yes they really do open things up but it all grows back.
      • We have learned that they can be forced deeper by keeping them in the same area longer. Just as in those circumstances, they will eat more woody vegetation once the green browse which they will eat first gets used.
      • They do not like being on their own dung so performance suffers.
      • Also, when these lodgepole forests and surrounding meadows get filled with small trees, mechanical removal is needed.
      • All pretty obvious in retrospect.

      Thanks for commenting; hope you are well.

      Regards

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