More than 350 grazing goats help with fire prevention at San Manuel reservation near Highland
SAN MANUEL RESERVATION, Calif. (KABC) -- The San Manuel Band of Mission Indians has opted for a natural alternative -- goats -- to help with fire prevention on the tribe's reservation and nearby properties.
For the past five years, the tribe's San Manuel Fire Department has deployed the goats annually across 1,000 acres in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains, an area that has been historically susceptible to wildfires.
The voracious goats consume brush and grass, which are abundant after Southern California's wet winter led to an explosive growth in vegetation throughout the region.
The goats are expected to roam the grounds during the next few months, consuming eye-level grasses and native plants.
"We know that a lot of these fires that start in this canyon start from the roadways," Assistant Fire Chief Chris Nelson told ABC7, "so we try to create a safe space buffer along those areas, to stop fire spread from the roadway into these larger, wide-open spaces with fuels, and to protect the communities."
In October 2003, the so-called Old Fire started along Highway 18 in the Waterman Canyon area of the San Bernardino Mountains and eventually swept across 91,000 acres, or about 140 square miles. It was among the most destructive fires in San Bernardino County history.
"If we can keep small fires small, that's a lot safer for everyone," Nelson said. "That's what a program like this does. When we get a small roadside fire from an overheated vehicle ... or things that stop in the brush, on the edges -- those fires, if they have nothing in front of them to stop them, then they'll continue until resources can get here to knock them out.
"However, if we have some of these areas where we have the fuel mitigated, then we get a better chance of getting in and getting a hold on them and keeping them small."
