Grazing goats have cleared out a dangerous canyon in the Santa Barbara foothills
John Palminteri
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – A hard working crew has cleared out a canyon, where fire dangers were growing between Santa Barbara and Montecito.
They are goats and sheep from the California Grazing Co. based in Nipomo.
The week-long effort ended Wednesday morning and the crew is on to another assignment.
Tall brush and grasses, that were starting to turn brown, were chewed up and leveled.
That will prevent a fire from spreading in the area that is surrounded by the Montecito hills and the densely populated Santa Barbara Eastside.
The Eucalyptus Hill Improvement Association coordinated the effort with funding from the Fire Safe Council.
250 goats and 200 sheep were on the hills between Lou Dillon Lane and Alston Road.
Sue Burk is the President of the Eucalyptus Hill Homeowners Assn. She says, “if a fire took off, no matter what direction it’s blowing, it could be devastating to the homes in this area. So and after what happened down south earlier this year we’re on it. We we want to get this done.”
She said the demand for the goats has been high. “The goats are only available for a short period of time, the spring, and the summer. And so everybody else has contracted them out. So we only we snuck in there.”
The goats and sheep are part of a larger crew that will be working in areas such as the Trout Club off Painted Cave Road, Bell Canyon in Ventura, the land behind the county fire headquarters and parts of Monterey County coming up.
For more details go to: California Grazing Company. Michael Klain, Co-Owner | (530) 518-6926 | info@calgrazing.com