Hundreds of goats help clear brush at Reagan Library

Visitors to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum in Simi Valley will have an opportunity in the next few weeks to see hundreds of four-legged helpers of the Ventura County Fire Department doing their part to reduce the risk of wildfires.

About 900 goats are in the fields around the library, helping eat the shrubs that could be fuel for fires.

Officials said the use of the goats is an environmentally friendly extension of the fire department's weed abatement program. This is the second year the goats have been used to clear brush around the Reagan Library, in areas in Ojai and in Thousand Oaks.

Library officials already were required to clear brush around the facility, but the goats will create an additional buffer against wildfires as they graze on about 40 acres.

On Friday afternoon, several trucks brought the goats to the library from their home at a vendor in Delano, north of Bakersfield.

As the goats were released, they stood on a ridge on the hillside below the library, took in the view of the valley below, and then started munching away.

Fire Capt. Brendan Ripley said the Reagan Library sits in direct line where Santa Ana winds and dry, hot weather make it ripe for fires.

"We look at (the Reagan Library) as very valuable national resource and so we want to do everything we can to protect it," Ripley said.

Ripley said that in the past, firefighters would clear the brush by hand or use chemicals such as RoundUp. Then they would have to do weed pile burnings and have machines running to grind up the rest of the brush.

The department brought in the goats as a pilot program three years ago in the Fillmore area to clear 35 acres.

"They did a phenomenal job," Ripley said.

Ripley said goats will eat just the surface brush area, while sheep will also eat the roots. The goats were fed a special alfalfa diet for several days so they wouldn't transfer invasive plants through their waste.

"It's much more efficient to run the goats through there. They basically take care of everything, from consumption to reintroducing it back into the ecosystem, so it's really neat from our standpoint," Ripley said.

A shepherd will be at the Reagan Library 24 hours a day while the goats are there for the next four weeks. Shepherd dogs will also be on-hand to protect the goats from predators. An electrical fence has been installed to keep the goats corralled in a specific area.

The Reagan Foundation will provide the water for the goats. The cost to use the goats is about $500 an acre, and the county has a grazing budget to pay for it.

"(As compared to) if we put a crew out here for 40 acres, it's very cost-effective from that standpoint," Ripley said.

He said a very dry winter season and late-season rain increased grass growth, therefore increasing the risk of fires in the area.

"The potential for having a bad or extreme fire season is always there," Ripley said.

The area was grazed before by sheep. About 400 goats helped clear brush on about 13 acres last year around the library.

Melissa Giller, director of communications for the Reagan Foundation, said having the goats around the library has been fun for both visitors and staff members.

"The guests love it.," Giller said "A lot of times, you don't know the goats are here because they are down in the fields below the library. But last year when they were here, you'd come outside and see people standing outside and looking down and watching them. We also had staff that come out every day on their lunch break just to watch the goats. They find it very relaxing."