Herd of 150 goats weeding out invasive plants at Butler Hike and Bike Trail
The goats will stay at the trail day and night for the next three to four weeks, taking breaks to chew their cud and sleeping in their on-site trailers.
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Controlled burns, which are another alternative to controlling invasive plants in the area, often lead to reduced air quality and can compact the soil, Anderson said
That's kind of slanderous against controlled burns. There is reduced air quality while it's burning, but the benefits can last years where the time of burning can last hours. I have not heard of compacting the soil as a drawback: a bit of Googling suggests that that's a drawback of cutting with machinery instead. Furthermore, there are ecosystems that are adapted to having burns from time to time, so they can be useful if done right.
However, the article mentions poison ivy. Goats can not only eat it, they actively like it, and their bodies destroy the urushiol (the irritant) so their milk is safe. Furthermore, for a burn of poison ivy: some people did that upwind of my sister and a lot of other people on a military base, and the results were Not Good.