With the news last week that local conservation commissioners will supplement their knotweed management work with goats, questions have been raised about how that will work, where it will take place and how the goats will be managed.
Warren Conservation Commission chair Jito Coleman explained last week that the goats working on hard-to-reach stretches along the banks of Mad River will be working inside moveable electrically fenced areas.
Coleman said that the Warren, Waitsfield, and Fayston Conservation Commissions plan to use goat herder Mary Beth Herbert who is experienced in dealing with invasives. She will manage a trained herd, plus all necessary support equipment.
ATTEND THE HERD
“She will attend the herd and provide water, monitor available shade, and weather conditions. We don’t want goats bothering people, or people and dogs bothering goats. There will definitely be some signage, but we are hoping initial sites will not be in close proximity to parks or highly trafficked areas,” Coleman explained.
Herbert is an independent grazing manager specializing in invasive species removal. She has worked for nearly a decade employing goat and sheep grazing practices to manage public and private lands. Her vision for managing invasive species through grazing began when she worked for the National Park Service and was tasked with leading a crew managing federal lands for historic preservation. After encountering multiple mechanical failures, delays, and cost overruns using mowers, brush hogs and chainsaws, Herbert proposed rotational grazing practices and principles she had learned through her research with the University of Vermont.
She has since implemented successful grazing management on both public and private lands, including clearing lands along the Appalachian Trail, removing poison ivy from Montpelier’s bike path, eradicating knotweed on private lands in Vermont, and most recently shepherding grazing sheep on disputed Navajo reservation lands in Black Mesa, Arizona.
EMPLOYING GOATS
Herbert has also led AmeriCorps conservation crews along the Colorado Plateau and on the Navajo and Hopi Reservations, managed projects with the San Juan Island Youth Conservation Corps, was a crew leader for Green Mountain Club volunteers, led conservation trips on Buffalo herd health for the Grand Canyon Trust, and worked with special needs students in outdoor education programs for Maple Hill School and Farm in Plainfield, Vermont.
“Herbert is excited to launch her own business focused on invasives in the Mad River Valley and beyond. She believes that knotweed is one of the greatest threats to Vermont’s riparian environment – causing major erosion of rivers and streams – and is passionate about employing goats to naturally and successfully eradicate this problem,” Coleman said.
