Joggers, bikers and surfers traveling around Coal Oil Point Reserve adjacent to UCSB have seen the future of land management, and the future is the goat.
Coal Oil Point Reserve director Cristina Sandoval’s passions for her goats and land restoration are combining to improve Goleta’s environmental landscape while helping her goats and enlightening the community.
For two months, Sandoval’s 13 goats, with their individual names and personalities, have munched through the invasive species overpowering the Coal Oil Point Reserve, both Sandoval’s and the goats’ home base.
“I do a lot of restoration work in the reserve,” Sandoval said of the 150-acre property, which is owned by the University of California Natural Reserve System.
“We’re always looking for ways to control weeds, and this way we don’t need herbicides or a tractor coming through compacting the soil and releasing fumes into the environment.”
Native Californian grasses are slow-growing bunch species that put tremendous emphasis on the roots. The annual European grasses that invaded California grow quickly, shade the native grasses and make it tougher for them to flourish.
“We are working to return the landscape to what it was 200 years ago,” Sandoval explained.
Once the invasive species are removed, native grasses can be planted.
Under Sandoval’s direction, Patchine, Ivy, Pumpkin and the rest of the goat herd are moved from one large fenced-in area to another each week. She does not want them to eat too much or too little in an area.
This is target browsing, according to Lorraine Argo, who, along with her husband, Ian Newsam, owns and operates Brush Goats 4 Hire. Argo and Newsam provide goats for land restoration and maintenance to more than 150 annual and semi-annual clients in the Santa Barbara area.
“Goats are like kids,” said Argo. “They’ll eat the candy and the tasty stuff first.”
Keeping the animals confined in three- to five-acre or smaller parcels and rotating locations ensures they get new feed regularly and that all plants are sufficiently cleared.
A large tractor used to mow the bluff lining the reserve several times a year, Sandoval pointed out as she motioned to compare two adjacent circular spaces. The goats’ current fenced-in browsing area — with its flowing European grasses, ice cabbage, wild radish and large Acacia tree prominently manning the center — stands in stark contrast to its clean buzz-cut neighbor.
Like the tractor, the goats cut down all plants. Sheering the fast-growing invasive species gives the native grasses a window to overcome the invaders that normally starve other plants.
Goats are the perfect farm animals, according to Sandoval. As browsers, they eat a variety of plants as opposed to grass-eating grazers, like sheep and cows. Goats are also inviting, with a size and demeanor close to that of a dog and with a dog’s aptitude for following direction.
“Any family with a backyard can have a goat,” said Sandoval, who has had goats for 10 years.
Starting with one goat, she walked her companion like any dog owner. She first became interested in breeding five years ago, and now has the troops to combine her love of farming, land restoration and goats.
Sandoval said she was inspired by a documentary on goat maintenance of invasive and overpowering kudzu vines in Georgia.
“I thought, ‘My goats could do that,’” she recalled.
Their work has exceeded her expectations.
Sandoval’s personal experiment at Coal Oil Point Reserve is one of multiple grazing operations that have had positive effects on the South Coast. Brush Goats 4 Hire assisted both Cate School and Westmont College in ways that highlight the goat’s usefulness.
At Cate, in the foothills above Carpinteria, invasive Cape ivy threatened to displace other species on campus, according to Argo. The goats managed the problem while demonstrating for students an environmentally sound approach to a problem that could have been handled with chemicals or time-consuming labor.
Westmont, which was severely damaged in the 2008 Tea Fire that ignited in the foothills above the Montecito campus, approached Brush Goats 4 Hire to reduce fire fuel on the grounds.
“I thought the concept was terrific,” said Westmont risk manager Troy Harris, who recalled that after three or four weeks the goats had consumed a good amount of brush.
“They (the goats) were working in an ecologically sensitive area, and the county asked us to look at the impacts of having the goats on the hillside,” he said. “Before we can bring the goats back we need to do a four-way study to look at goats versus weed whackers versus biodegradable chemical approaches versus monitoring an untouched area.”
While Sandoval is not the first to use goats in land restoration, her project is a personal endeavor for the love of her goats as well as of the land.
“It’s good for them to get this natural, fresh food,” she remarked. “The long fibers are good for their digestive systems.”
Sandoval’s goats are not only browsers but also show goats with six awards to their credit. In 2011, they earned “Grand Champion Senior Doe,” “Best Junior Doe” and “Best Udder in Show” awards.
“She really does have a beautiful udder,” she laughed as she pointed out her champions.
Sandoval says she is surprised by the work her goats have done but also by the public response.
“The community reaction has been great,” she said. “It’s almost like a petting zoo.”
With many females of the herd pregnant, five kids are expected in March. With the additions, Sandoval will have even more company, milk, antics and browsers to enjoy.
— Noozhawk intern Erin Lennon can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk or @NoozhawkNews. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
(Erin Lennon / Noozhawk iPhone video)
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