Goat landing on Bozeman Fish Technology Center

On June 8 at 5:00 p.m., 409 yearling domestic goats were off-loaded on the Bozeman Fish Technology Center (BFTC) campus. Thus begins a 3-4 year project of monitored targeted grazing and applications of friendly insects to control noxious weeds and manage brush overgrowth on property of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service BFTC.

Purposes of this effort are to reduce the presence of undesirable vegetation, promote restoration of native plants, and assist with fire protection by reducing burnable plant biomass.

The cooperative venture involves the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Montana Outdoor Science School, Friends of the Bozeman Fish Technology Center, Gallatin Valley Land Trust, U.S. Forest Service, and Prescriptive Livestock Services. Integrated Weed Control is supplying the insects as an in-kind contribution to the project, and has applied insects on the BFTC’s "hot spots" in previous years.

Photo credit: Eli Cureton / USFWS