GRAZE AND AMUSE
Goats, sheep at Railyard Park as part of restoration project, workshops
When nearly five dozen goats and sheep get together, they don’t need assistance from a lawnmower.
The animals had lunch Tuesday afternoon at Railyard Park, chomping on native blue grama grass as part of the Railyard Park Conservancy’s three-day Graze Days Grasslands Restoration Project. Organizers said the idea behind the event is to manage and restore native plants in one of Santa Fe’s most beloved parks — using a natural approach that may make more sense than human labor.
“These goats can [treat the landscape] for us, and they do it better than we can,” said Christy Lee Downs, executive director of the conservancy.
The animals — 42 goats and
17 sheep — help “improve the landscape in the park in a geographical way, and to include public education and public interaction,” she said.
Since the park opened 11 years ago, the land has been treated like turf grass, when “it needs more of a natural approach” due to the types of native species that grow in the area, Downs said.
The goats and sheep remove seed heads of invasive species, prune old growth and provide fertilizer to the soil. Graze Days kicked off during this year’s Earth Day Celebration festival in April. The plan, Lee Downs said, is to host a similar three-day event with the goats and sheep every fall and spring for three years as a pilot program. If results prove favorable along the two-acre plot of land at the corner of Cerrillos Road and Guadalupe Street, it’s possible to continue the project indefinitely and expand it into other areas.
Lee Downs said it’s “kind of crazy” there haven’t been any other known projects like anywhere else in the
This bearded goat is called a ‘unicorn goat,’ because of its single horn.
state. “It’s a variable solution,” she said. “It’s not a weird thing to do. It’s very practical.”
Arielle Quintana, education and outreach coordinator for the Quivira Coalition, said in a news release there’s an important educational component to Graze Days, adding it will create “a space for the community of Santa Fe to learn about the critical roles rangelands play in the health of our food systems, communities and the planet.”