Their presence is sponsored by the Bear Creek Garden Association, which fundraises several thousand dollars a year to bring in the goats rather than let the county use chemical sprays to keep down weeds on a 20-acre area around their two-acre garden.
 In a view from the upper switchback of Creek Crossing, south of Rio Grande Street, a portion of the weed-eating goats graze Oct. 24. The Bear Creek Garden Association annually fundraises to bring the goats from Wyoming. The association's garden is to the left, out of the picture. Westside Pioneer photo
|
The herd, which is expected to stay until about Nov. 3, comes from Lani Malmberg's ranch in Landers, Wyo.
Last year when the goats were here, they were also contracted to graze on private properties near the Mesa Wildlife Preserve off Mesa Road, but no such side arrangements have come up so far this year, according to her son, Donny Benz, who was watching the goats outside the Bear Creek garden this week.
He said that with the goats having been here in the fall for three straight years, he has observed some signs of improvement in the soil around the garden, in terms of fewer noxious weeds and more perennial plants and grasses coming back.
The “ideal” would be to have the goats twice a year, Benz said, but the association has been unable to afford that expense since 2007.
A munching goat herd cuts down the noxious weeds in a natural way, leaving behind manure that helps the soil, he said.
The association has tended the garden in Bear Creek Park East (southeast of Rio Grande and 21st streets) since the late 1980s through an agreement with El Paso County.
Westside Pioneer article