California’s new regulation may cause major wildfires.

Goats Hired to Reduce Wildfire Risk in California

Hundreds of goats are chomping on vegetation in California to reduce the risk of wildfires as temperatures rise this summer. These voracious herbivores are in high demand to devour weeds and shrubs that have proliferated across the state after a drought-busting winter of heavy rain and snow.

“It’s a huge fuel source. If it was left untamed, it can grow very high. And then when the summer dries everything out, it’s perfect fuel for a fire,” said Jason Poupolo, parks superintendent for the city of West Sacramento, where goats grazed on a recent afternoon.

Targeted grazing is part of California’s strategy to reduce wildfire risk because goats can eat a wide variety of vegetation and graze in steep, rocky terrain that’s hard to access. Backers say they’re an eco-friendly alternative to chemical herbicides or weed-whacking machines that make noise and pollution.

New Regulations Threaten Goat Grazing Services

However, new state labor regulations are making it more expensive to provide goat-grazing services, and herding companies say the rules threaten to put them out of business. The changes could raise the monthly salary of herders from about $3,730 to $14,000, according to the California Farm Bureau.

California’s New Regulation Could Fuel Major Wildfires

A new regulation in California could have unintended consequences that may fuel major wildfires. The state is investing heavily in wildfire prevention after being ravaged by destructive flames that scorched millions of acres, destroyed thousands of homes, and killed dozens of people. Goats have been used to clear fuels around Lake Oroville, along Highway 101, and near the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. However, a new regulation that would entitle goatherders to ever higher pay, up to $14,000 a month, could force goat herding companies out of business and make it unaffordable to provide goat grazing services.

“We fully support increasing wages for herders, but $14,000 a month is not realistic. So we need to address that in order to allow these goat-grazing operations to exist,” said Brian Shobe, deputy policy director for the California Climate and Agriculture Network.

Companies have historically been allowed to pay goat and sheepherders a monthly minimum salary rather than an hourly minimum wage because their jobs require them to be on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. But legislation signed in 2016 also entitles them to overtime pay. It effectively boosted the herders’ minimum monthly pay from $1,955 in 2019 to $3,730 this year. It’s set to hit $4,381 in 2025, according to the California Department of Industrial Relations.

Goat herding companies say they can’t afford to pay herders that much. They would have to drastically raise their rates, which would make it unaffordable to provide goat grazing services. The goat-grazing industry is pushing the Legislature to approve legislation that would treat goatherders the same as sheepherders. A bill to do so hasn’t yet received a public hearing.

Living and Working Conditions of Goatherders

Labor advocates say the state should investigate the working and living conditions of goatherders before making changes to the law, especially since the state is funding goat grazing to reduce wildfire risk. Companies typically put about one herder in charge of 400 goats. Many of the herders in California are from Peru and live in employer-provided trailers near grazing sites.

“We have a responsibility as a public to ensure that every worker who’s working in California is treated with dignity and respect, and that includes these goatherders,” said Gonzalez Fletcher, who sponsored the farmworker overtime bill when she was a state Assemblywoman representing San Diego.

Tim Arrowsmith, owner of Western Grazers, which is providing grazing services to West Sacramento, said, “The demand has grown year after year after year.” His company, based in the Northern California city of Red Bluff, has about 4,000 goats for hire to clear vegetation for government agencies and private landowners across Northern California. Without a fix to the new regulations, “We will be forced to sell these goats to slaughter and to the auction yards, and we’ll be forced out of business and probably file for bankruptcy,” Arrowsmith said.

Impact on the Public

What’s at stake for the public is that their houses could burn up because of the inability to fire-mitigate. Arrowsmith employs seven goatherders from Peru under the H-2A visa program for temporary farmworkers. He said the herders are paid about $4,000 a month and don’t have to pay for food, housing, or phones. “I can’t pay $14,000 a month to an employee starting Jan. 1. There’s just not enough money. The cities can’t absorb that kind of cost,” Arrowsmith said.

The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.

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