A herd of goats is noshing its way through invasive buckthorn near a busy intersection in New Brighton. In nearby Maplewood, goats will chew through buckthorn around City Hall.
After years spent battling back nature with clippers, chain saws and manpower, more suburbs are leaning into natural solutions, including using this voracious livestock to remove invasive plants.
While the use of animals feels playful and delights visitors, it shows suburbs' serious commitment to environmental and ecological goals, city officials say.
New Brighton was awarded a $5,000 grant through the Minnesota Department of Agriculture to help remove invasive buckthorn from 7 acres of Creekview Park. Goats allow the city to accomplish this work without chemicals in an eco-friendly way, said Jennifer Fink, New Brighton's parks and recreation director
Fink said the goats are incredibly efficient eating buckthorn and invasive mustard garlic while leaving desirable trees and shrubs.
"They strip the bark from the buckthorn. They get it down to next to nothing," she said.
Buckthorn seeds are destroyed as they make their way through a goat's digestive tract.
Buckthorn was introduced to the United States from Europe as an ornamental shrub. A fast-growing plant with clusters of thick leaves, it was popular for backyard privacy screens. But buckthorn quickly pushes out native vegetation, releasing a chemical into the soil that inhibits other plants from growing.
