Goat grazing at the Byrne Preserve in Los Altos Hills finished up last week, with approximately 450 goats reducing vegetation in open space areas as part of a Los Altos Hills County Fire District program.
The goats, two herding dogs and herders arrived May 6 and finished May 16. The district has hired a herd to graze every year since 2006 due to their low impact and because their small relative weight makes them ideal grazers, creating less erosion, with sheep more picky about what they eat. Community Education and Risk Reduction Manager Denise Gluhan with the fire district noted the areas near the Byrne Preserve are steeply graded with little access, with goats reducing environmental impact and allowing root systems to stay in place compared to people with chainsaws and vehicles. Slopes and creeks nearby create erosion risks of dirt moving down to the creeks.
While the last major fire to hit Los Altos Hills was in 1990, Dr. Daniel Swain, a UCLA climate scientist at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, noted at a recent fire district community preparedness event that there has been a dramatic increase in California wildfires from 2015 to 2025. The fire district is focused on making sure a catastrophic fire doesn’t happen, like the one in Pacific Palisades that burned 23,448 acres and destroyed more than 6,000 structures. Gluhan noted there are significant weather and vegetation differences between Northern and Southern California, like the Santa Ana seasonal winds in the south, while mitigating geography, like the nearby coastline, has helped ensure Los Altos Hills doesn’t have much of a fire history. The fire district looks to mimic what Mother Nature would do in its vegetation management plans.
“We can’t change Los Altos Hills’ topography, slope and how the landscape is arranged; the only thing we can do to reduce fire risk is the vegetation,” Gluhan said.
The fire district has also started using drones before and after the goats leave to get data on how much has been eaten. A drone went up May 1 to measure vegetation and density, with a post-flyover scheduled to compare data and work done. According to 2023 data, the goats went over 8.8 acres. The goats ate approximately 2,356.67 cubic yards in 2023.
