Goats: Non-toxic alternative to managing Warren’s ‘leafy spurge’

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chad Thompson
  • 90th Space Wing Public Affairs
F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. --  Five hundred goats were released near Warren's Gate 2 June 6 in hopes to control an ongoing weed infestation.

The reason the goats are here is to help with a weed that has plagued much of the Wyoming area for many years: leafy spurge.

Leafy spurge is an illegal, noxious, alien weed that has been introduced to the area over the last 30 years, said Bob Lee, Cheyenne's director of environmental management of weed and pest and vector control.

The reason this weed is so detrimental to wildlife is because once the plant starts growing, it will eventually take over the area and kill off any other vegetation present, and it does it rather quickly, Mr. Lee said.

The weed has been known to double or triple its coverage area in as little as a year by means of wind, streams and rivers and by animals ingesting the plants and spreading the seeds.

"Being that Warren is upstream and upwind from Cheyenne it is important for them to try and control the problem or else [leafy spurge] would just continue to feed the city," he said.

"Over the last few years the city of Cheyenne has probably invested around $250,000 to try and control this weed problem," Mr. Lee said. "So I'm thrilled that Warren has stepped up this year to help with this problem."

Cathy Pesenti, 90th Civil Engineering Squadron, said one of the main reasons Warren stopped managing vegetation in the drainages several years ago was due to the presence of another plant, the Colorado butterfly plant.

The Colorado butterfly plant has been a federally-listed threatened species since October 2000 and there is a large presence of this plant on base.

Afraid that spraying or mowing would kill the Colorado butterfly plant they stopped for several years but have recently tried other means of controlling the leafy spurge, Ms. Pesenti said.

Now they are more afraid that competition from the weeds will wipe out Warren's population of Colorado butterfly plant so they brought in the goats to help, Ms. Pesenti said.

Joni Vanderflught, 90th CES, said goats will readily graze leafy spurge and seem to be the best way of controlling the problem.

"It was a general consensus that goats have traditionally done a good job at controlling the problem," Ms. Vanderflught said. "For one they are one of few animals that will eat the toxic plant, and they tend to 'browse' instead of graze."

Browsing means they tend to be a little more selective of the vegetation they eat and leafy spurge happens to be one of their foods of choice, Ms. Vanderflught said.

Goats typically eat the weeds before grass or other vegetation, therefore eliminating the problem plant and leaving the natural vegetation, she added.

In addition to removing the above-ground vegetation, the goats will weaken the root systems of the weeds and reduce the number of seeds they can produce, Ms. Pesenti added.

The goats will be on base for a total of 60 days, and this is the first time they have been used to try and rid Warren of this plant.

The next location the goats will be moved to is over near the FAM camp area, and eventually they will be taken to the area between the heat plant and the commissary to rid that area of leafy spurge and other weeds.

For more information please contact Cathy Pesenti at 773-5494 or Joni Vanderflught at 773-3752.