Goats Help Protect Ronald Reagan Library From Wildfire

Nov 23, 2019 by apost team

The California wildfires that have ravaged many varying points of California in 2019 are some of the worst that the wildfire-prone state has seen yet. The wildfire season is in full swing and the number of fires is growing daily.

The U.S. Forest Service and Cal Fire services have combined forces to monitor the rampant fires to total up close to 200,000 acres of land burned as of the close of October 2019. The fires are rampantly spreading like, the saying is true here: wildfire. People are being forced to evacuate and many that aren't are left with no power.

Institutions of major importance are burning. Yet, one major institution was saved, thanks to a herd of about 500 goats.

The Ronald Reagan Presidential Library was saved by a herd of 500 goats that were brought onto the property surrounding this U.S. treasure. The effort consisted of tapping a local company, 805 Goats, to bring in the goats to feast on the marsh and brush over about 13 acres of land. They were brought in to clear the marsh in May, months before the wildfire season would likely begin in California, but their eating habits helped to save the Presidential Library.

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It seems that every year that the wildfire season along with the damage and displacement caused by those wildflowers is not only worse than the year before but noted as the worst wildfire season yet in California. Water availability is also a crucial issue that affects California to a great degree, making wildfires all the more dangerous and likely to spread.

Team members working with the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library came up with an absolutely genius, highly cost-effective way to help protect the Library from the threat of wildfires moving in: they brought in goats. A herd of 500 goats was brought into the land around the Library to clear the brush by eating it. By eating the brush surrounding the Library, it helped to slow the wildfire flames from approaching the Library, giving the firefighters a fire break to stop the fire from moving any farther

Firefighters said the goats’ eating of the brush truly did make their job easier. Similar brush-clearing methods are being executed elsewhere, like L.A.’s Getty Museum. However, this work was done by staff members, meaning it was much more costly and was not done in preparation for the fires, but rather after they had already begun to spread.

What do you think about preventative fire-spreading measures like utilizing goats to clear brush, which is both eco-friendly and budget-friendly? Pass the story of the incredible work these goats did to protect a national treasure, simply by being big eaters.