HWMO's recent efforts of employing "goat-dozers" to reduce fuels in and around villages such as Waikoloa is grounded in a plethora or research that shows the effectiveness of pulse grazing using goats. This research brief pulled together by the Joint Fire Science Program has a lot of great information on using goats for fuels treatment in WUI areas.
"In the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) methods for reducing fi re hazards such as prescribed burns and mechanical thinning, may be less than ideal in terms of effectiveness, let alone in acceptance by community residents.
Kathy Voth may be a harbinger of change. Her work with goat herds to reduce and prevent wildfi re provides another option for fuel managers. Goats vigorously eat fire prone vegetation like oakbrush, while trampling parts of the area to bare dirt—such areas treated by goats can stop a fi re cold. Voth’s results show the promise of using domesticated animals as part of our fi re prevention workforce. In certain situations, goats may be able to save money, while creating new and effective ways of managing fi re-prone landscapes."