Goats in Stillwater

Taylor Stockert, the new City Forestry Technician, alerted us to the goat herd now chewing away along parts of Long Lake east shore.

Monday was the first of up to 3 weeks of happy munching for a herd of goats along the east shore of Long Lake open space located at Northland Avenue and Croixwood Blvd.

The goats came from Goat Dispatch in Faribault, MN. They will return for at least one more time, and then perhaps local volunteers can finish the project over a year or two of labor.

Compared the delight of watching goats enjoy themselves to the more traditional method of cutting and poisoning--along with the added necessity and cost of labor and the disturbances from dragging, chipping, loading and hauling, and overall truck traffic. Goats are by far the better option.

But it does take time. And once you notice the amount of buckthorn in our local forests, you realize what a blessing it is to find a goat herd that will happily munch it all away.

Goat fence in snow

"The goats are viewable from the park open space right at the intersection of Northland Ave and Croixwood Blvd. However, it is absolutely critical the goats are not disturbed in any way. That especially includes entering into the enclosed off area, as well as feeding them. If humans are regularly approaching and with food, they get really excited and could potentially bust through their gates. We would hate for someone to get hurt, not to mention that they find the buckthorn less desirable if they come to expect food!" - from Taylor Stockert

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Louise Watson

Sustainable Stillwater MN Board of Directors, Natural Resources Work Group Lead