NEWS RELEASES
Minnesota Park Recruits Goats To Battle Invasive Plants
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through Southern Minnesota News' website.
NEW ULM, Minn. – The Southern Minnesota News reports that Flandrau State Park in New Ulm is bringing in a herd of goats to help rid the park of invasive plant species. The goats will be cordoned off in a 22-acre area where they will be cared for by a goat herder and protected from predators by a guard donkey or llama.
The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources found that goats, which love to graze on thorny brush and woody vegetation, are a chemical-free and cost-effective option to control troublesome plants such as common buckthorn, garlic mustard and dame’s rocket, and also eat poison ivy, thistles, and other plants that other animals ignore. Some trails at the park may be closed when goats are at work.
For more on Minnesota’s state parks, visit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources website.
Environmental Issues, Minnesota, News, Open Road, State Parks, Wildlife