For the fifth year, sheep and goats are back to graze in the Salinas River in Paso Robles to prevent the spread of vegetation fires.
Paso Robles Fire Battalion Chief Jay Enns said that prior to the grazing, about 35 acres of the Salinas Riverbed would burn each year, but in recent years, they're averaging less than three acres.
“With late spring rains this year, we have significant grass crop," Enns said. "And it's now fairly cured, and so we're starting to see an uptick in fires already.”
Enns said that the grazing proved effective after the very first year they did it.
“Shortly after grazing, we had a fire in that area and we sent a full response to it and we ended up being able to handle it with one engine and canceling the rest,” he said.
The fire department started by bringing goats out to graze 15 acres in 2019, and with the success of the program, the animals are now grazing almost 100 acres.
Beth Reynolds owns Goat Girls, a vegetation grazing service. She says the goats graze along the east and west banks of the river from north of Highway 46 to south of Niblick Road.
"Most of it's on the east bank, because there's a lot more homes on this side," Reynolds said.
Once grass growth stops in April, the group of 810 goats and sheep begins feasting. They eat their way through the Salinas Riverbed until June, right before the peak of fire season.
Enns says a fire broke out last Wednesday in an area that the goats and sheep weren’t able to graze yet. He says that if the land had been grazed, they would have had to send significantly fewer fire engines.
James Purdy owns a business next to the riverbed, and he says that by this point, they're used to seeing multiple fires a year.
"I mean, it seems like in the riverbed we do at least four or five [fires] throughout the year here," he said.
The grazing is paid for by the City of Paso Robles and grants from the Fire Safe Council.
Grazing operations are expected to wrap up by June 10.
