CA goats fight fires

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Eating away at wildfire threat

 

California cities bring in goats to chomp at hazards

 

By Lynda Gorov, Boston Globe Staff, 06/16/99

 

LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. - To the untrained eye, the hilltops offering spectacular

ocean views are an empty, ugly yellow.

 

Fire prevention specialist Michael Phillips sees safety in the barren spaces

between the soaring houses with floor-to-ceiling windows.

 

The goats see only their last meal.

 

''You could do worse in this world than be a Laguna goat,'' said Phillips, who

works for the city's fire department. ''Some people say the goats leave the

land looking kind of desolate. I say the goats are going to save lives.''

 

Devastated by wildfires that leveled 286 homes and partially damaged 35,

destroyed more than 16,500 acres, and forced the city's evacuation in 1993,

Laguna Beach set out to find a way to contain future fires without bankrupting

its budget. The city settled on goats, an all-natural firefighting techique so

effective that Los Angeles County to the north is shopping for a herd of its

own.

 

In Laguna Beach, the 700 or so goats that munch on city grass and brittle

brush 365 days a year are so beloved that some homeowners time parties to

coincide with their arrival in the neighborhood. From their balconies, they

sip wine and watch the herd work. Others in this beachside city of 24,500 have

urged the city to put the goats to full use and turn their milk into

marketable feta cheese.

 

''I just love it when the goats come around,'' said homeowner Jane Eastman,

who a year ago moved into a Laguna Beach neighborhood that was flattened by

the 1993 fires. ''You've taken the coyotes away with all this building. You've

taken a lot of the charm away. The goats give us back a little bit of the

country feel.''....

 

 

The county is convinced of the goats' cost-effectiveness. A fiscal impact

study prepared for FEMA put the cost of hand crews at $1,750 an acre.

Herbicides cost $350 per acre. Heavy equipment can run $275 an acre, while

prescribed fire costs $250. The goatscome in at $225 to $300 per acre.

 

County Supervisor Miachel Antonovich, whose district includes Claremont, has

described them as a ''bargain'' for taxpayers. And taxpayers seem to be

responding. His deputy, Jennifer Weston, said their office has been flooded

with callers offering goats.

 

''A ton of people have said they have them and we can use them,'' Weston said.

''I have no idea where people are getting all these goats. But they do seem to

like the idea of using them for fire prevention.''