Grazing goats tackle mountain vegetation

FRESNO COUNTY, Calif. (KFSN) -- Hungry goats are in for a treat after historic rainfall in the Sierra Nevada.

Over 400 goats are already hard at work helping clear brush with Southern California Edison's vegetation management program.

Action News took to the mountains to look at what these four-legged firefighters have cleared and the work ahead.

It's grazing season, and in our mountain communities, there are a group of grazers who are very much welcomed.

"Goats are one of the top tier ones that we've been exploring over the last three years; what we have typically done with people and chainsaws here, goats are doing it much more appropriately," said Brian Sprinkle, with Southern California Edison.

The work the goats do is to help prevent wildfires and save lives.

"Each pen is about one acre to two acres, and they will work that pen in about a day," said Chase Cianfinchi, with Chasin Goat Grazing

The goats wake up at the crack of dawn and begin eating, and from there, their itinerary consists of a lot of napping and munching.

"Their goal is to browse the brush and vegetation that is underneath the power lines to reduce the height and control the growths," explained Sprinkle.

"They get up, eat till about 10 or 11, and then they take a nap, maybe an hour or two, then they eat a little bit more and then take another nap," added Cianfinchi

These goats believe in a leisurely pace of work, the team with Chasin Goat Grazing is based in Santa Rosa, California but travels all over the state.

This year their goats will have plenty more to munch on as vegetation and demand for business have increased.

"The jobs that we've done in the past couple of years during the drought, we've been able to get through those faster, so we've been able to get more jobs done during the summertime, so this summer seems like it is going a little slower," explained Cianfinchi.

The goats are currently working on brush near Shaver Lake and will continue onto nearby areas one acre at a time.

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