Reinette Senum’s “Goat Fund Me” campaign featured in the L.A. Times

“In tiny Nevada City, a Gold Rush town in Northern California touting a population of 3,100, folks are big on a novel idea to fight the increasing threat of wildfires: calling in the goats,” the L.A. Times is reporting

“Vice Mayor Reinette Senum has launched a crowdsourcing campaign called ‘Goat Fund Me,’ hoping the online fundraising efforts will garner $30,000 to work with local ranchers on a prescriptive grazing project on city-owned land, including 450 acres of greenbelt.

“’Why not do something — and as soon as we can?’ Senum said Friday from her home tucked into the foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, where she has lived off and on since age 4. ‘If we’re not proactive, if we don’t help ourselves, no one else is going to step up.’

“The city is especially vulnerable to fires ‘because we’re an outdoorsy community. We spend a lot of time in nature and we’re packed with brush that turns into tinder that needs to be cleared,’ Senum said.

“The idea has been used elsewhere in California.

“For decades, Laguna Beach has launched a herd of goats to feast on the city’s canyon slopes in an effort to reduce the threat of brush fires.

“And last year, the Irvine Ranch Conservancy used the animals in its efforts to restore native grasses to the area.”

The rest of the article is here.

Author: jeffpelline

Jeff Pelline is a veteran editor and award-winning journalist - in print and online. He is publisher of Sierra FoodWineArt magazine and its website SierraCulture.com. Jeff covered business and technology for The San Francisco Chronicle for 12 years, and he was a founding editor and Editor of CNET News for eight years, among other positions. Jeff has a bachelor's degree from UC Berkeley and a master's from Northwestern University. His hobbies include sailing, swimming, and trout fishing in the Sierra. View all posts by jeffpelline