Give it to the goats?
CORONA DEL MAR — Newport Beach Fire Marshal Steve Bunting saw homes destroyed and hillsides blackened by the wildfire that swept through Laguna Beach in 1993, and he doesn’t want it to happen here.
His answer? A herd of hungry goats.
For 20 years, Laguna has used goats to keep vegetation pared down, reducing the risk of fire. Bunting thinks it could work in some of Newport’s most overgrown areas, Buck Gully and Morning Canyon.
He’s been meeting with homeowners associations to gauge their interest, and he’s planning a study to see if goat brush control is feasible.
A photo from 1973 shows visible dirt in Buck Gully. Over the years invasive plants moved in along with people, and everything green has thrived off the urban runoff that creates a constantly flowing stream.
“When you look at it from the top it looks real pretty and green and lush,†Bunting said. “When you get down in it, it’s in some places six to 10 feet thick, so you’ve got dead material in there.â€
The city requires homeowners to trim vegetation out to 100 feet behind their homes, and beyond that it’s Newport’s problem. Bunting hopes to bring in the goats to munch down about 18 acres in Buck Gully and Morning Canyon.
The animals would be much cheaper than hiring people to clear out the public land by hand, Bunting said.
He admits it’s not an apples-to-apples comparison, but he estimates hiring goats might cost about $500 an acre — less than $10,000 for the 18 public acres — while using people to hand-clear the area could cost as much as $570,000.
But goats also raise questions. They tend to eat everything in their way, even native plant species that are fire-resistant, and they generate waste that would pollute streams flowing from the canyons into the ocean.
Also, the canyons are in a special nature reserve that also includes the Upper Newport Bay and Crystal Cove State Park, so the goat plan would need approval from the reserve’s board of directors.
Members include the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the state Parks and Recreation Department and Orange County officials.
“Where we’re going to hit the hurdle is the goat waste. I think that’s going to be a problem,†Bunting said. “I have no idea how you deal with that.â€
The study should take about six months and will look at who would pay to hire goats, how far onto private property they could go and what to do about goat manure.
Newport Beach City Councilwoman Nancy Gardner, whose district includes Corona del Mar, said if the goats are allowed, some residents might want to use them to maintain their yards because of the lower cost.
In the past, some people have taken the attitude that residents whose homes ring the overgrown canyons are the ones who should deal with the problem, Gardner said.
“When they understand that yes, their houses could burn down, but so could the rest of the town … then they go ‘Well, I guess it’s all of our problem,’ and they want to deal with it.â€
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