July 2021 | "Goat Fund Me": Highland Firewise Neighbors Hire 400 Goats For Wildfire Safety Project
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Santa Cruz, California, July 20, 2021: As California residents brace themselves against the dangers of wildfires, a group of neighbors in Santa Cruz is taking action to protect themselves and their homes from potential disaster - with goats.
Highland Firewise, a volunteer group of Santa Cruz residents focused on wildfire mitigation and prevention projects in their neighborhoods, have hired 400 goats to clear dried brush from the 6.2 Evergreen Cemetery Ravine near Harvey West Park in Santa Cruz. The goats will be herded into a fenced enclosure to start their work later this week.
“Goats eat everything,” says Shareen Bell, a member of Highland Firewise and organizer of the Goat Fund Me campaign. “Using goats to clear fire fuel debris in the ravine is an environmentally-sound way to reduce the risk of wildfires in this area.”
Adjacent to public parkland and private residences, Evergreen Cemetery Ravine has been designated by fire officials as a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): an area where forests and natural open spaces overlap with neighborhoods and businesses, making them highly vulnerable to wildfires. Hiring goat herds to “masti-clear” these types of landscapes is an increasingly-popular fire mitigation strategy according to NPR, EcoWatch, People, and other news media providers.
After working with local fire officials to assess the area, Bell and her neighbors launched the “Goat Fund Me” campaign earlier this year, hoping to raise the $14,000 needed to hire the goats.
“If the ravine ignites, it could set this whole place on fire,” says Bell, referring to the hundreds of homes and businesses in the surrounding area. Also at risk is the nearby University of California, Santa Cruz campus and unknown numbers of unhoused people living in the Ravine area who may not be able to escape a fast-moving fire event. “We are very excited about having the goats come so we can make this area safer for everyone,” said Bell.
Goats are ideal fire-preventers for two reasons: they can navigate steep hillsides and they tend to eat more flammable non-native grasses and leave native plants alone (NPR). "It would be almost impossible for a human to sit there or walk up and down with a weed whacker or a Weed Eater, so that's why we use the goats," Anaheim Fire Marshall Allen Hogue told NPR.
About Highland Firewise
Highland Firewise is a group of neighbor-volunteers dedicated to protecting our homes, reducing Wildland Fire hazards in the WUI open spaces, and increasing fire-safety awareness in our neighborhood. As a nationally-certified Firewise Neighborhood, the all-volunteer group fosters community involvement by building partnerships and finding resources to mitigate fire danger. Since 2018, Highland Firewise has partnered with local and state fire officials to identify and develop plans to clear fire fuel debris from wildfire-prone WUI areas. On May 1st, 2021, the group hosted the area’s first Wildfire Awareness Day event, providing wildfire safety information to approximately 100 residents living between High Street and UCSC in Santa Cruz. The event was attended by California Representative Jimmy Panetta, who praised the event as “the kind of thing neighborhoods need to do to help each other protect themselves and their homes from wildfires.”www.highlandfirewise.org.
About Firewise USA
The national Firewise USA® recognition program provides a collaborative framework to help neighbors in a geographic area get organized, find direction, and take action to increase the ignition resistance of their homes and community and to reduce wildfire risks at the local level. Any community that meets a set of voluntary criteria on an annual basis and retains an “In Good Standing Status” may identify itself as being a Firewise® Site. www.nfpa.org/Public-Education/Fire-causes-and-risks/Wildfire/Firewise-USA
Newsletter produced by Highland Firewise Core Team Members Shareen Bell, Tiffany Zachmeier, Dagmar Dolatschko with contributions from others team members and the public
Photo credit for goats on Evergreen Graveyard Gravestone to Kevin Coullahan of MAH; other photos contributed by Adam Bender, Shareen Bell, Dagmar Dolatschko