Prescribed Goat Grazing

My Project:
Goats! For Firesafe Homes In Wildland Areas

When I began this project in 1997, I already knew that some communities were using goats to reduce fire danger. I also knew that my fire management colleagues in the Bureau of Land Management and other agencies were reluctant to try this tool because of a lack of information about prescribed grazing results, how the animals should be managed, and how to write contracts. I also knew that there were potential prescribed grazing contractors out there who could benefit from the same information.

From 1997 to 2003, I ran a demonstration/research project at Camp Williams National Guard Training Facility funded by the Joint Fire Science Program to answer everyone's questions. Working with Joel Godfrey, and later with Sean Hammond and other students from Utah State University, we focused on practical logistics of managing goats to create firebreaks, and gathered information on vegetation response.

Yes It Works!
Our fire behavior models showed that goat breaks could slow and stop fires, but an accidental fire caused by a training exercise provided the best information. Base firefighters working to prevent the fire from overrunning nearby neighborhoods said that flames dropped from 15 feet to 2 feet when they hit the goat break boundaries, and then went out.

To complete the project, I created a Handbook on CD to provide all the information a land manager or prescribed grazier might need to be successful. It is available from this website.

Today, Camp Williams National Guard Training Facility continues to use goats to limit the range of accidental fires on the base.

Kathy and goats

Here is an excellent summary
of the project by staff at the
Joint Fire Science Program.

The Joint Fire Science Program funded this project so that land managers and prescribed graziers would have the infotmation they need to be successful.