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By Zachary Stewart-Q101

Wildfire Risks for Lunch

Goats are returning to the Nicola Valley to chow down on combustibles

Jun 1, 2023 | 11:08 AM

MERRITT, B.C. — The Nicola Valley is trying out a hairy solution to fire prevention.

Goats are returning to Merritt for another round of lunch and helping manage the wildfire threat in areas of the city.

“We had the goats here last year. They were doing some targeted grazing between the ball diamonds and Parker Drive,” Gareth Tilt, Merritt firefighter and public education coordinator says. “They are reducing our wildfire risk by removing a lot of the combustibles.”

The part of town the goats are going to be grazing is the city property right beside the Pine Ridge Cemetery, 1675 Juniper Dr., also working in the area behind Juniper Drive and above the golf course.

“We know that those areas, right in behind those homes, are particularly a concern for us,” Tilt adds. “They are south facing, get a lot of sunlight, quite hot and quite dry. Any area that’s a slope like that is a particular risk for wildfire growth and the fact that it is above a well-used community park puts it at higher risk. The nature being right next to homes means it’s a tough one for prescribed burning, so the goats come in and do a real natural means of removing those combustibles for us.”

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Tilt says the animals are coming on June 8 and will be here for 10 days and during that stretch will be able to eat a significant chunk of wildfire combustibles. Each goat can eat up to 10 pounds of dry bush per day. The city is brining in 130 goats.

Even though the wildfire prevention is needed, there is a collective concern about what may be left of the ground after the goats are done grazing, but Tilt says that is actually a secondary benefit.

“As the goats feed in those areas, they basically break down the weed seeds and all other parts of the plants and actually leaves the soil in an area where it can retain more moisture,” he says. “So even once they leave, the overall resilience of that space has increased as well as lost all of that combustible.”

While the goats are hard at work, residents still have the opportunity to check out the furry firefighters in action.

“We definitely encourage you to give the goats some space, and there will be some riders with horses and everything like that make sure the goats are moving along so they don’t overgraze the areas and are eating the right things,” Tilt says. “But if you do want a good viewing platform, the property around 1902 Parker Dr., there is that viewpoint that should give you a really good view of the goats themselves. As well as just looking down from below within Central and Rotary Park.”