USA: ‘Goat fund me’ campaign aims to use farm animals to fight wildfires
By Anh Do
In tiny Nevada City, a Gold Rush town in Northern California touting a population of 3,100, folks are big on a novel idea to fight the increasing threat of wildfires: calling in the goats.
Vice Mayor Reinette Senum has launched a crowdsourcing campaign called “Goat Fund Me,” hoping the online fundraising efforts will garner $30,000 to work with local ranchers on a prescriptive grazing project on city-owned land, including 450 acres of greenbelt.
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The city is especially vulnerable to fires “because we’re an outdoorsy community. We spend a lot of time in nature and we’re packed with brush that turns into tinder that needs to be cleared,” Senum said.
The cost of using goats to eat away overgrown brush is affordable, supporters say. Booking a herd costs between $500 to $1,500 an acre, according to City Manager Catrina Olson. Some 200 animals can plow through an acre of land daily, officials said.
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