With high fire season rounding the corner, members of the Eucalyptus Hill Improvement Association prepared their canyons earlier this month with the help from a four-legged source — goats.
The association worked with the Santa Barbara City Fire Department (SBFD) to designate the canyons as areas of concern in the city's Community Wildfire Protection Plan, determining they were at risk for fires and that the community must take action. While efforts have been made with the Fire Department to mitigate areas of fire danger, the overall lack of funding has led the association to take matters into their own hands.
Last year, they hired Cuyama Lamb LLC to graze in the smallest canyon within Eucalyptus Hill in order to eliminate flammable vegetation. This year, they partnered with Ventura Brush Goats , whose goats assist in vegetation management, fire fuel reduction, and land regeneration. According to the Cornell Small Farms Program , sheep and goats have become an increasingly popular option for fire mitigation as they have a “knack for eating weeds, brush, and just about anything with a green leaf.”