SUPERIOR, Colo. — Three years since the Marshall Fire damaged or destroyed thousands of homes, communities have learned how vital a diverse approach to fire mitigation is.
The Town of Superior has enlisted the help of Goat Bros and its team of 300 goats to cut down on brush this winter.
Jordan Sarazen started Goat Bros five years ago, and his business has spread to a number of communities along the Front Range.
“We’ve got 300 goats here that we use for holistic land management,” he said, standing inside Superior’s Community Park. “They're clearing up all this dry tinder, dead vegetation, and it's going through their digestive system and then coming out through the form of manure.”
As the goats graze, they not only consume vast amounts of flammable materials but also help enrich the soil.
“During this time of year is really great because their urine and manure is really high in nitrogen,” Sarazen said. “They're fertilizing the ground. They're trampling it into the ground, working it in, feeding that ecosystem, and all around just recycling that organic matter that promotes the right environment for native vegetation to come back healthy and strong.”
Summer months bring much more vegetation, but those plants are green and not very flammable. In the winter, the plants are much more dry and more susceptible to ignition.
This group of goats will spend just under three months at Community Park, clearing out 60 acres of land and mitigating the fire risk until spring when the plants start to grow again.
The stakes are high for a community that knows how a wildfire can strike at any time of year, even in the middle of winter. Homes overlooking the goats at Community Park had to be rebuilt after they were destroyed in the Marshall Fire, and residents have welcomed the goats with open arms.
“We’ve had several community members come over and tell us that they enjoy having the goats here,” said Sarazen. “They’re excited to see something in the community that’s proactive instead of reactive.”
Wildfire
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