Reno Reporter

The Reno Fire Department (RFD), NV Energy, and the Nevada Division of Forestry have partnered for the second consecutive year to reduce the risk of wildfire in Reno in the lower Rosewood Canyon through targeted goat grazing.

Goats from High Desert Graziers in Smith Valley, Nevada will be grazing on approximately 30 acres of City owned property between Cashill Blvd, Patidar Drive, Solari Drive, and Olympic Circle.

Targeted grazing mitigates wildfire risk by removing flammable vegetation, thus reducing the amount of fuels available to burn during a wildfire, and accomplishes the objective in a sustainable manner. This type of treatment also reduces ignition risk as compared to the use of heavy equipment to complete vegetation management during fire season.

Goats graze on native grasses and shrubs including sagebrush, bitterbrush (the goat’s favorite) and manzanita, as well as non-native grasses and weeds such as cheatgrass. Cheatgrass, a non-native grass introduced from Asia, is easily ignited and can carry fire into rangelands and forests, contributing to rapid spread of wildfires. 

Members of the public are welcome to visit the area and monitor the progress of the grazing operation. City officials would like to remind the public that there will be electric fencing in the area to contain the animals, so do not go near the fencing.

Those residents living along Solari Drive, Olympic Circle, and Patida Drive, and people recreating near the grazing goats, are asked to:

• keep dogs on a leash or at home to avoid potential conflicts
• please maintain a distance from the goats
• do not produce loud noises.

There will be guard dogs accompanying the goats for protection from predators.

“This is a continuation of fuel mitigation cleanup of the Rosewood Canyons,” Reno Fire Marshal Tray Palmer said. “By the end of the year we plan on applying pre-emergent along the south facing slopes and use this as a template to reduce hazardous fuel loads in other parts of the city.”

The goats used in this project are Spanish Goats and are between the ages of one and three years old. This type of Spanish goat, from the Kensing lineage, are bred to consume all types of vegetation in open and varied terrain. As such, this type of grazing has no known negative impacts on the goats.

“Targeted grazing is an ecologically beneficial treatment on the landscape to reduce the impacts of wildfires and prevent the loss of homes and other critical infrastructure,” said Anna Higgins, a Forester with Nevada Division of Forestry.

“This is just one of the many wildfire mitigation efforts that NV Energy is using across its service territory to prevent wildfires, and is part of NV Energy’s overall Natural Disaster Protection Plan,” said Mark Regan, NV Energy Fire Chief. “These goats will clear the vegetation under and around our power lines in rugged terrain that would be challenging for crews to navigate, and eliminates the need for crews to use machinery to clear brush during wildfire season.”

This project is made possible by funding assistance from Senate Bill 508, a bill that makes allocations to the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources for wildfire prevention, restoration and long-term planning. The Rosewood Canyon Hazardous Fuels Mitigation Plan is also funded by the 2019 State Fire Assistance Wildland Urban Interface Grant. 

For more information, contact RFD’s Division of Fire Prevention at 775-334-2300.

_{Source: https://www.reno.gov/Home/Components/News/News/20096/576?backlist=%2f}