City of Rochester using goats to deal with invasive plant species in parks

(ABC 6 News) – The city of Rochester is getting creative in dealing with invasive plant species.

The city brought in about 200 goats to help them get rid of invasive plants in Bear Creek Park. This area has had a lot of trees removed because of emerald ash borer. Before planting new trees, the city mowed the buckthorn down. Now, it’s starting to grow back.

"I kinda got sold that it was a great management tool and we’re trying to implement that this year in our parks," said Jeff Haberman, the city forester with the City of Rochester.

"This isn’t our first year using them but we’re really ramping up the effort to use goats in hopes of grazing 25 to 50 acres this year."

The goat business working with the city is called Goat Dispatch. Owners Jake Langeslag and his wife Amanda have more than 600 goats working across the state.