Budget

Getting fire’s goat

The goat is traditionally the mascot of the U.S. Navy. But at Camp Williams in Utah, the Army National Guard is putting goats to work as fire protection officer...

Federal News Network Staff

August 3, 2009 12:38 pm

< a min read

The goat is traditionally the mascot of the U.S. Navy. But at Camp Williams in Utah, the Army National Guard is putting goats to work as fire protection officers.

Since 1999, the Utah Guard has enlisted more than 12-hundred goats and sheep to consume sagebrush and oak brush that usually become fuel for wildfires. Goat-created firebreaks stopped big fires from spreading in 2001, and 2006.