What are the Benefits?
Managed grazing to control vegetation and reduce fire hazard has both environmental and practical benefits. Listed below are just a few. Forage for Livestock Open Space Aesthetics Wildlife Habitat Habitat for Endangered & Threatened Species Sequestered Carbon from the Air Ground Water Recharge Wildfire Reduction Soil and Plant Health Eradication of Invasive Plant Species
When they think of grazing livestock, most people think of cattle or sheep, but goats are often considered the best all around "groundskeepers": Goats love grasses, clovers, weeds and brush species such as manzanita, berry bushes and poision oak, and will even eat starthistle. Goats are good climbers and and will prune the lower tree branches, which can help keep fire from spreading from the ground level into the tree canopy. Goats can be combined with other species of livestock (e.g., goats and sheep can be used together to graze an area where vegetation is a combination of grassland and woody vegetation).
| | Grazing animals, such as goats and sheep, easily traverse steep, rocky hillsides, consuming invasive plants and woody vegetation that can fuel wildfires. | | | |  | | When used to create fuel breaks, properly managed grazing animals can remove more vegetation than even weed eaters. |
 | Did You Know?
There are 20 million acres of privately grazed land in California. |
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Additional Information
Additional information on managed grazing can be found in Targeted Grazing: A Natural Approach to Vegetation Management and Landscape Enhancement. Click here to view the Targeted Grazing Handbook on the University of Idaho website.
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Learning Tour - Benefits of Managed Grazing 
