City brings goats back
<p>In this 2010 file photo, a goat meanders through the weeded area of the Honeysuckle well at Kathleen Avenue as another snacks on a low lying branch of a tree. A tribe of goats were used to rid the City of Coeur d'Alene owned property of weeds since mechanical and chemical methods can't be used.</p>
More than 250 goats will soon make Tubbs Hill their temporary home as the city prepares to reduce brush naturally to help protect the 120-acre park from the threat of a catastrophic wildfire.
The city announced it has contracted with a natural vegetation management company to reduce shrubs, known as ladder fuels, which present a danger because they can accelerate fire into treetops making it much more difficult for firefighters to contain.
The goats will be moved to the west side of Tubbs Hill next Wednesday. Goats have been used in recent years to manage vegetation in other areas of the city, and North Idaho College has used the animals along Rosenberry Drive.
The goats on Tubbs Hill will be contained to one-acre tracts by low-voltage electric fencing. The fencing will be at least 15 feet away from trails. Once the goats have sufficiently reduced shrubs from a tract, they will be moved. Over about a three-week period, the goats will reduce brush from 22 acres.
The project is funded by a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant obtained by the Coeur d’Alene Fire Department.
Park users are reminded to stay on marked trails and keep dogs on leash. Signs will be posted. There will be no trail closures.