During Memorial Day Weekend the Fanwood Environmental Commission welcomed back a number of grazing goats to do what they do besteat non-native, invasive plants. This is the second year the Fanwood Environmental Commission has employed the use of goats as an eco friendly solution to weed management.
Environmental Commission Chairman Gary Szelc said, “To paraphrase that old song, ‘We’re doing what comes naturally, using nature to work with nature to control invasive plants”.
The goats were located at Fanwood’s Nature Center. They started on the north side, where they addressed the emerging non-native plants they managed last season. Later in the summer the goats will be moved to the south side of the Nature Center. Some of the Nature Center trails will be closed from time to time and visitors should stay on the outside of the two fences–the smaller inner fence is to keep the goats in the desired area and is mildly electrified. We also ask that visitors not walk their dogs through the Nature Center while the goats are there. The commission asks visitors to observe the goats quietly and let them do their work. No one should try to pet the goats and definitely don’t feed them as that would defeat the purpose of why they are there.
For more information visit fanwood.org.
Goats from Green Goats farm in Rhinebeck, N.Y., lunch on poison ivy and other invasive plants after arriving earlier in the day at the Nature Center in Fanwood, NJ, Monday, Aug. 10, 2015. The goats are being used to rid the center of several invasive plants. (Photo by Brian Horton)
