GOAT GRAZING & RESTORATION
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About Us
As Minnesota’s leader in community-based restoration, Great River Greening is devoted solely to stewardship of our land and water. We engage volunteers of all ages in restoration projects, helping to protect the outdoor places we all know and love.
Goat Grazing
With the ability and willingness to munch on plants like buckthorn and sumac, goats have become a powerful asset for Great River Greening in the management of invasive species across Minnesota. Great River Greening restores land with the help of herds managed by companies like Diversity Landworks, Goat Dispatch LLC, and The Munch Bunch, who release goats to graze on invasive species while making room for more desirable native species.
Goats can physically control the growth of woody invasive species like buckthorn as they eat the leaves and bark of the shrubs, preventing those shrubs from getting bigger or spreading. The goats are fast and efficient in this task, plus land that is difficult for people to work on is much more accessible to the nimble goat. Additionally, buckthorn seeds are destroyed in the goat’s digestive tract so we don’t need to worry about the goats’—ahem, droppings—spreading buckthorn further. Beyond the goats’ helpful snacking, their hooves can serve a purpose as they move across the land. Depending on the project, our field crew will spread seeds of native species before releasing the goats, who can then use their hoofs to work the seeds into the ground.
Our experienced technicians may use the following restoration techniques as part of our projects:
· Goat grazing
· Invasive plant removal
· Seed sowing
· Tree, grass, and wildflower planting
Questions? If you have questions about a particular project site, send us an email at greening@greatrivergreening.org.
If you’d like to support projects like this across our state, please consider a donation. Your gift will transform Minnesota’s natural areas into healthy, resilient places for generations to come.