- Angela: Vernon County sits in the heart
of Wisconsin's Driftless area.
[water rushing]
It's full of peaceful places to get away and enjoy nature.
It's also home to the latest in low-tech vegetation management.
[goats bleating] [playful music]
These goats and sheep belong to Ben Robel.
- I didn't wanna get a real job after college,
so I bought 2 goats, and 2 goats has led to 300.
- Angela: Robel runs Vegetation Solutions...
[Robel calling to goats] [goats bleating]
...a company that rents out herds of animals
to use for vegetation control. [goat bleating]
- Robel: We have over 300 animals.
There's 65-ish here.
The herds are spread out all over the place.
And this is just one location that we have 'em at right now.
- Angela: Today, the herd is working a two-to-three acre area
at Esofea/Rentz Park.
- We're cleaning up along the trout stream
to give better access to trout fisherman
so they can have more public access in this park.
- Angela: Vernon County conservationist Ben Wohjan
says these goats are crucial
to control invasive plant species.
- We're really at an epidemic level
of our oak, hickory, and walnut forests just not regenerating,
and largely because of invasive species.
- Angela: While Robel often works with private landowners,
this project is a partnership
with Vernon County Land and Water.
- The county board definitely looked at me funny
a couple of years ago. [goat bleating]
But now I think they're much more supportive.
They were willing to take a chance on Ben and Ben
and the crazy goat project. [goats bleating]
- Angela: Robel says the advantage
to using sheep and goats
is they can chew vegetation in hard-to-reach places,
and it's environmentally friendly.
- Robel: It's just an alternative to mowing,
chainsaws, chemicals, fire.
It's just one more tool in the toolbox
to use for vegetation management.
- Angela: Wohjan is now using Robel's herds
throughout the Vernon County park system.
[water gushing]
- Wohjan: We're a very flood-prone region,
so there's a number of issues, including invasives moving in,
but also large amounts of debris along our stream corridor,
so often, we cannot mow those areas.
They get in there and they clean it up.
- Robel: We put 'em in a small paddock, a small area
to eat that area for about a week, 10 days
and then they get moved on to another area.
I think around here, they've probably gone through
about 10 acres so far.
And then in a week or so,
they're gonna be moved to another area
to start the process all over again.
- Angela: It's an organic method, but it's not easy.
It takes people to monitor and move the herd.
- Robel: Livestock are 24/7.
It's not like a lawnmower,
where you can just turn the key off and they're done.
So at any given point, something can happen.
- Angela: Even so, Ben and Ben aren't sheepish
about the success of their partnership.
- They do a great job managing the animals.
I come and check on 'em as needed,
and there haven't been any issues.
So everything's, it's been a win-win for both of us.
- I do maybe get a little feedback from my staff
that they don't really feel like moving goats all of the time.
One of my crazy ideas.
But they're starting to think it's not so crazy
because we really are seeing a lot of benefits.
Just a lot of control that it would not be occurring
if we didn't have this partnership.
[bright music]