US state mows with goats to go gently on environment

Yahoo News 29 May 09;

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Officials in the eastern US state of Maryland have come up with an innovative, cost-saving way to protect the environment: they use goats to mow the grass.

The State Highway Administration came up with the novel idea while building an 85-million-dollar road bypass near the town of Hampstead, northwest of Baltimore, after it found that the construction site was home to bog turtles, the smallest turtle in the United States and a threatened species.

The traditional method of keeping grass at the side of a highway in trim -- lawn mowers -- was considered but discarded because it could severely disrupt the bog turtles' habitat and possibly even injure or kill the tiny reptiles, whose shells measure between three and 4.5 inches (7.6-11.5 centimeters) in length.

"Even though these turtles can burrow down, many times they're above the ground this time of year and not in the mud," said David Buck, spokesman for the State Highway Administration.

"Lawnmowers would have been more expensive than using goats and any time we find a solution that helps the environment, we're going to take a look at it," he said.

Grazing cattle on the land was also pondered, but that idea was ruled out because cows are heavy and might have crushed the tiny turtles.

Then, someone thought of the goat option.

"We found a local farmer who has 40 goats that we rent," said Buck.

"The goats will be out there through the mowing season until the end of September. We'll evaluate at the end of the year to see if we were able to keep the turtle population the way it was," Buck said.

The goats have been happily grazing on eight acres (3.2 hectares) of meadow and bogland near Hampstead for slightly more than a week, and all is well, said Buck.

If the two-year, 10,000-dollar pilot project is deemed a success, it will be expanded to other environmentally sensitive regions across Maryland.