If experiment works, Texas may employ an army of firefighting goats

Goats could soon dot the Texas landscape as wildfire prevention experts try new ways to keep down highly flammable brush, a key component in the outbreak and spread of wildfire.

It started when city officials in Victoria put goats to work clearing the city's Riverside Park in an experiment to test if the four legged chompers could beat out two-legged landscapers for the task of ridding the area of overgrown shrubs.

Now the goats' work is being closely watched by fire prevention officials at Texas A&M. If successful, the plan is to push out the idea out as a statewide tool for hazardous fuel reduction.

"I saw the news about the goats and I loved it," said Bruce Woods, head of mitigation and prevention at the Texas A&M Forest Service.

"What we are planning to do now would be to audit the goats and then show this as an example across Texas. We would say to local fire prevention teams, this is an idea you might want to look into," Woods said.

More at http://www.beaumontenterprise.com/news/article/If-experiment-works-Texas-may-employ-an-army-of-5232274.php .

[font color=green]Quick, call Ernst & Young! Let's see if the auditors are as tough on the goats as they were on me when I had to demonstrate my job functions and write procedure manuals.[/font]