When you think of fire control, you might think of something like firetrucks and sirens, but have you ever considered something like a grazing goat?

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Kim Stolte is the owner of Montana Goat Farm, a family-owned business that uses its herd of goats in a sustainable way.

“Well, the goats need to eat, that’s the main thing,” said Kim.

But these are no regular goats; for the past five years, Kim has rented her herd to members of the community for grazing as a way to prevent wildfires.

“They’re pretty darn efficient, especially when you have that number of goats. And that’s the thing—if you only take out two or three goats, they’ll just kind of pick and choose and not clear. But when you bring through 80 goats or 100 goats, they’ll just be kind of like locusts. They’ll clear the whole area,” said Kim.

Montana Goat Farm has gained a lot of popularity for its service. In the past year, the farm has rented its goats to several farms in the Gallatin Valley.

“They were gone all summer, so 60 to 80 goats from June until September,” said Kim.

Kim has even seen the effect in her own backyard.

“You can compare our property with the property next door that hasn’t had goats on it, and you’ll see a big difference. Like ours is just wide open, no underbrush, no debris, and the other ones are still just overgrown, where the fire is just going to suck right through,” said Kim.

I got to speak to one of these firefighters myself: Bob Dylan the Goat!

“Hey Bob, what do you think about fire risk mitigation in the Gallatin Valley?” I asked Bob.

Bob continued to munch his hay with lots of enthusiasm.

Kim wants to continue to share her friendly firefighters with anyone who needs it.

“Whether it’s farmland or in the trees, or around people’s houses, that would be amazing,” said Kim.