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Could goats combat Minneapolis' invasive species?
Posted by: Eric Roper Updated: September 19, 2012 - 4:52 PM
Will goats be the city's future foot soldiers in the war against invasive species?
The unusual idea had some of us at MPLS scratching our heads when we saw Park Board commissioner Brad Bourn had proposed it as a budget priority. It was buried in a list of possible spending areas for 2013, which will get whittled down by commissioners on Wednesday night.
"Consider a pilot project that would introduce grazing animals (goats/sheep) into areas of regional parks to address invasive species and grass length."
It's been tried in other cities, though goats are usually sent to the airport. Chicago, in fact, recently solicited bids for goats to cut the grass at O'Hare Airport.
Bourn said in an interview that he heard about the idea from a parks staffer, who said it could be used to combat invasive plants like Buckthorn. "It sounded like …an interesting idea to try when they talked about it," Bourn said. "So I just wanted to get some more information on it."
While he didn’t have details on the potential location and ownership of the goats, he said it could involve “setting up a grazing pasture for a couple of weeks in one particular area and then letting these animals graze on that Buckthorn.”
Commissioners, who submit votes on budget priorities, weren't wild about the idea. In a pre-meeting survey, only one of eight commissioners said they "fully support" the idea. Three "do not support" it and four ranked it somewhere in the middle. Its average rating was 2 out of a possible 5.
Michael Schmidt, assistant superintendent for environmental stewardship, said he didn’t plan to do too much research on the idea unless commissioners expressed an interest.
The whole issue may be moot, however. City ordinances already prohibit people from keeping "hoofed animals" unless they are in a stable with appropriate zoning or being "transported expeditiously through the city."
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