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Project ID: 99-1-3-02

Year: 1999

Date Started: 07/08/1999

Date Completed: 03/31/2003

Title: Using Goats to Prevent or Reduce Wildland Fire Danger in Shrub Dominated Wildland-Urban Interface Areas

Project Proposal Abstract: Though controlled browsing by goats has periodically been used to reduce fire fuels and hazards, this practice has not achieved widespread acceptance by fire managers as one of the tools in their toolbox. The purpose of this project is first to determine the degree to which goats can modify fuel types, and then to model the fire behavior managers might expect, given the modification (Task 3). In addition, it will provide managers with the practical management tools and animal husbandry guidelines necessary to control livestock for fuels reduction purposes (Task 3). Using existing literature, a randomized complete block design, and analysis of variance on grazing demonstrations over two grazing seasons, we will gather the necessary data for use in modelling fire behavior. The second season's data will assist in determine future time commitments by land managers choosing this tool. Our objectives for this study are to: 1) Determine the degree of change possible in fuel load, and height in oakbrush/mountain brush and shrub dominated fuel types, under differing degrees of grazing/browsing intensity. 2) Utilize fire behavior models such as FARSITE to determine under what weather conditions these fuel breaks will be effective. 3) Demonstrate, using a completed statewide fire assessment GIS product, how and where this tool can be used on a landscape level. 4) Synthesize existing animal husbandry and conditioning literature and techniques into a handbook as a reference suitable for land managers, and demonstrate their use as an example of a "prescription." 5) Outline cost implications to managers considering the use of this tool.

Principal Investigator: Katherine Voth

Agency/Organization: Utah State University

Branch or Dept: Department of Watershed Sciences

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	John Malechek	Utah State University	Department of Wildland Resources
Federal Cooperator	Mike Pool	BLM-Bureau of Land Management	California Desert District

Project Locations

Consortium

Northern Rockies

There are no project locations identified for this project.

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

There are no deliverables available for this project.

Supporting Documents

The following supporting documents are available for this project.

Brief

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