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SUNNY Temp: 70 °F Wind: CLM at 0 mph Friday, June 27, 2003 SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA HomeLife Magazine W3 Magazine Jobs @ Mail Tribune Tempo A & E Oregon CarZone Wellness Connection Real Estate Newspaper in Education Prime Times Outdoor Journal Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find Everything E SOUTHERN OREGON Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar ABOUT US FAQ What's New Advertise Home Delivery Classified Ad Contact Us Media Kit Email Story to a Friend June 25, 2003 John Adams tends to a goat herd in the hills above the Applegate Valley where an experimental program is under way to see if goats will eat flammable plants to reduce fire danger. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell Fire goats A BLM program in the Applegate is testing how well goats eat flammable material By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune RUCH — After a month atop a mountain with 200 goats, John Adams has butted into a few facts about being a goat herder. "I’ve learned it’s not an exact science," said Adams, 26, a graduate of the University of Oregon, who majored in political science. "I thought I could control them," he added. "They’ve taught me that it’s not about control but about understanding what they do and what they want. They’ve taught me a little patience." Learning about goats, specifically their gastronomic habits, is what the pilot project high on the mountain on the northeast side of the Applegate Valley is all about. Advertisement Adams has a summer job with Lakeview-based Nanny & Billy’s, a company which has contracted with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District to determine if goats can be used to reduce the fire hazard in southwest Oregon. "The purpose is to evaluate them as a vegetative management tool," said John Prendergast, a BLM silviculturist. "The jury is still out whether you could apply it to a large operation. But the only way to find out is to try it." The experiment with the goats, who have been on the 83-acre BLM parcel since late May, began with the approval by the district resource advisory committee last year. "Everybody is looking for a way to reduce the cost of maintenance on the forest, how to get the density down as low a cost as possible," said retired forester Howard Heiner of Ashland, an alternate member of the committee. The test will be whether the goats can control madrone and other species on the mountain. The goal is to help re-establish the once-dominant pine forest. The goat business was started a decade ago by Hugh and Sarah Bunten, who have been interested in goats ever since they received one named Chloe for a wedding present 25 years ago. Chloe is gone, but she left a goat legacy: the Buntens now have about 400 goats. "Goats are browsers with a diet much more diverse than cattle or sheep," said Hugh Bunten, a retired archaeologist. "A lot of the noxious weeds you have around here like yellow star thistle, that’s their natural enemy back home." Although the Buntens originally raised goats to produce meat, they began using them solely to munch brush and weeds half a dozen years ago. They are now working on projects in Northern California and Oregon to chomp down noxious weeds, brush and reduce the threat of fire. "We direct the goats, teach them the target plan," he said. "A goat is considerably smarter than a sheep or a cow." Adams and another herder take the goats down the mountainside each morning, bringing them back to a base camp each evening. Two black-and-white herd dogs trot along. Like deer, the goats will stand on their hind legs to nibble on tree leaves. But they take nibbling another step by standing on the backs of other goats to reach higher, Bunten said. "The way it works, each goat comes by and takes a slash at a bush," Bunten said. "They are really a picky eater, not like the cartoons where they are eating tin cans and clothes off the line. "They like fresh stuff every day to browse on," he added. "The herder’s job is to take them to new sites every day." The Buntens use boar goats which originally hailed from South Africa. The males can grow to around 300 pounds. No problem has been encountered with wild animals, although the area is noted for its cougar population. Most of the goats have names, he said, pointing out Toby, Timmy, Lucky and Darla, while a goat named Duane nibbled on a reporter’s notebook. "Meany, the big one in the middle with the large set of horns, has a well-deserved reputation," Bunten said. The going rate for hiring one goat to munch brush is about $1.50 a day, Bunten said, noting however that the ideal way to charge is by the project. The goat project atop the mountain is nearing an end, Bunten said. "Because of the heat, this madrone doesn’t seem to be the choice for them right now," he said. But he would like to bring them back in the fall when the goats would likely have a better appetite for madrone since most of the other vegetation would be dry. After the two-year project is completed, the Buntens will hold a workshop to evaluate its cost and success rate. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Printer Friendly Version Email Story to a Friend Subscribe Archive: Click to Search Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2003 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. 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