By Mary O’KEEFE

The goats are back in Glendale and on Wednesday began to happily eat their way from one side of a Verdugo Park hillside to another. 

Two hundred goats from California Grazing ran up the hillside, stopping along the way to chew on some grass.

Although Glendale Fire Dept. had used goats to mitigate vegetation in the past, the goat program actually began when local resident Rick Stern invited firefighters to his backyard in 2020 to talk about goats. 

“My wife had heard that goats most likely saved the Reagan [Presidential] Library,” Stern said. Firefighters have credited goats with preventing the 2019 Easy Fire from destroying the library as the land they had cleared created a protective barrier. 

Stern said he thought this would be a good way to protect the hillsides throughout Glendale. 

“I’m glad they are starting earlier this year,” he said. 

“They [the goats] are very effective in steep rocky, hard to get to areas,” said Patty Mundo, specialist, Fire Environmental Safety, GFD Vegetation Management Program. 

She added goats are being introduced to the area earlier this year due to the rain, which has created a lot of vegetation growth. Normally the goats come to Glendale in June and July – and they will be back during those months – but Mundo said the need for clearing was necessary now as well and her agency didn’t want to wait until summer. 

The fire department was awarded a grant that is helping to pay for the goat grazing/fire prevention.               

Fire Chief Jeff Brooks said the department will do mechanized brush clearance using hand crews but the goats are able to get into the trees and eat the vegetation to levels low enough to slow or prevent the spread of fires. 

“They are very valuable,” he said.

Michael Clane, the owner of California Grazing, knows how valuable the goats can be. 

“I am a fire captain and saw the need,” he said. 

Clane was with CAL FIRE and is now with the Conservation Fire Camps Program through the State of California. He realized how goats could clear brush and decided to start California Grazing in 2018. He now has about 1,700 goats and 1,200 sheep. 

On Wednesday, 200 goats began to eat and clear the Verdugo Park hillside; an additional 200 goats will be dispatched to graze over 20 acres of the park. 

The goats eat the flashy fuels. 

The goats will be in the area for about a week. GFD has applied for another grant to continue the program. Last year neighborhood residents of Chevy Chase in Glendale pooled their funds to get goats to clear their area. 

Any neighborhood or homeowners association that would be interested in this process of fire prevention can contact GFD for guidance. And those who would like to donate to help GFD get more goats to more areas can donate funds by going to the Glendale Fire Foundation at glendalefirefoundation.org.