Posts tagged goats
Goats to help restore threatened Open Space grassland
Jul 18th
“The tallgrass prairie habitat along this trail is rare worldwide, and right now it’s threatened by the spread of chicory that has built up over past years,” said Laurie Deiter, OSMP restoration ecologist and Integrated Pest Management specialist. “Goats are one tool against these invasive plants because they prefer to eat woody plants like chicory and leave the tender native grasses.”
Deiter added that using goats means that OSMP does not resort to chemical control. She said that OSMP also plans on using cattle grazing and prescribed burning in years to come to finish what the goats start.
The leash requirement is necessary to keep the goats safe. There will be a person staying on site throughout the period, keeping an eye on the goats, moving them from one area to another and providing them with water.
“We want to thank the public in advance for complying with this temporary change in regulations. This cooperation is necessary to make these restoration efforts successful,” said Eric Stone, OSMP division manager.
Parks and Recreation Department utilizing goats to control weeds at Boulder Reservoir
Jul 5th
For the 11th consecutive year, the City of Boulder’s Parks and Recreation Department is employing an Integrated Pest Management (IPM) approach to control invasive weeds in non-irrigated park areas by grazing between 300 and 350 goats in the areas. The goats will be arriving on the east side of the Boulder Reservoir (along the dam) around July 7-8 and will stay for approximately one week. Park users should not be impacted by the goats, but are asked to keep dogs leashed along the dam faces in the area of the goats in order to avoid encounters with and to not impact the goats.
Goats have been utilized effectively as a control for many weeds, as they eat even prickly weeds. The state of Colorado’s noxious weed act requires monitoring and control of certain plant species, and the Parks and Recreation Department complies with this state mandate by applying the four IPM techniques for weed management – mechanical, biological, cultural and chemical. The use of biological controls, such as goat grazing, is important as the department seeks to reduce the amount of herbicides used.
When done at the proper times, grazing prevents the current year’s plants from going to seed and depletes the root system’s reserves. Grazing also recycles organic material back into the soil and cultivates the ground allowing for better water infiltration, aeration and sunlight exposure.
For more information, call Shelly Ruspakka, Parks and Recreation, at 303-413-7214.
