- Vernon County sits in the heart
of Wisconsin's Driftless area.
[gurgling water]
It's full of peaceful places to get away and enjoy nature.
It's also home to the latest
in low-tech vegetation management.
[humorous music] [baaa, baaa]
These goats and sheep belong to Ben Robel.
- I didn't want to get a real job after college.
So I bought two goats
and two goats has led to 300.
- Robel runs Vegetation Solutions.
[baaa] - Beep, beep, beep.
A company that rents out herds of animals
to use for vegetation control.
[baaa]
- 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 them at that right now.
- Today the herd is working a two-to-three acre area
at Esofia-Rentz Park.
- We're cleaning up on a trout stream
to give better access to trout fishermen
so they can have more public access in this park.
- Vernon County conservationist Ben Wojahn 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.
- 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 [baaa]
but now I think they're much more supportive
and they were willing to take a chance
on Ben and Ben and the "crazy goat project."
[baaa, baa, baaa]
- Robel says the advantage to using sheep and goats
is they can chew vegetation in hard to reach places,
and it's environmentally friendly.
- It's just an alternative to mowing,
chainsaws, chemicals, fire.
It's just one more tool in the toolbox
to use for vegetation management.
- Wojahn is now using Robel's herds
throughout the Vernon County Park System.
- 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.
- We put them in a small, 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 ten acres so far
and then in a week or so
they're going to be moved to another area
to start the process all over again.
- Come on guys!
- It's an organic method, but it's not easy.
It takes people to monitor and move the herd.
- Livestock are 24/7.
It's not like a lawnmower
where you can just shut the turnkey off
and they're done.
So at any given point, something can happen.
- 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 them 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.
? ?