LEDE With wildfires battering much of the western United States, practitioners of one fuel mitigation strategy have seen increased public interest. They work long hours, remove brush on difficult terrain, and chew cud. N-W-P-B’s Rachel Sun reports. NON-OPTIONAL OUTRO: This story is part of N-W-P-B’s efforts to report not just on problems, but on how our communities are seeking solutions. --------------------------------------------- [sound bed of goats] On a late July morning on a rocky slope near Spokane, Washington, Craig Madsen is watching his goats attack snowberry bushes, hawthorne, and Oregon grape. [Nat pop, goat bleats] Madsen is renting his herd out for an important job: removing brush that could act as a carrier fuel for wildfires and threaten a nearby home. On this property, homeowners use a tractor to clear fuel in other areas -- but that doesn’t work on the hill. 1MADSEN: “This part is, because of the slope and the brush, they can't really use the equipment on. So we use the goats on (it) to knock back the brush.” It’s not exactly a new strategy. But increasingly, landowners are exploring their options. Maurice Robinetto [MOR-iss ROBIN-etto] is a cattle farmer in Cheney [CHEE-nee], Washington. [Sound of cattle lowing] He first took an interest in targeted grazing for fuel mitigation three years ago, when a fire hit two different neighbors’ properties. The first neighbor… 2ROBINETTO: “... Had done several fuel reduction -- DNR-sponsored fuel reduction projects on his place, and then he had also grazed really, really hard.” So when the fire reached a major highway — 3ROBINETTO: “ …it had a lot less energy, and it did not jump the road.” A second neighbor hadn’t done any of that fuel reduction. Robinetto points to the spot on the map, across the highway from the second neighbor’s property, where the fire DID jump … 4ROBINETTO: “...And burned another -- 500 acres, I’d guess?” He says because fire jumped from that second neighbor’s property, at least six homes were threatened. 5ROBINETTO: “…Firefighting that happened there (is) because of a management decision made up here.” According to data from the National Interagency Fire Center, wildfire suppression cost an average of around 12-hundred dollars per acre in 20-23. Costs to use goats for fuel reduction are often a few hundred dollars per acre. Prices vary depending on factors including time spent and desired outcomes. Matt Reeves, a research ecologist at the U-S Forest Service, says goats could be well-suited to what you might call “point protection” scenarios in small spaces. REEVES:  People think, also goats are cute, so -- they're curious about them, and it's a great conversation starter. The Forest Service and the BLM both are beginning to, I think, quite dramatically increase the number of projects where they're, they're using goats.” Land managers are quick to point out that grazing and browsing animals can’t be used everywhere. A few limitations include the number of animals available for a job, specific timing needed to protect native plants, and the costs to transport animals. Sometimes, grazing can be used in conjunction with other fuel mitigation techniques like prescribed fire. Back in Cheney, Robinetto walks me around his property and tells me he’s also looking into controlled burns. But grazing is less of a liability. 9ROBINETTO: “The downside of prescribed burns is it can get away from you … The guy who it the match is responsible for damages. And that's a huge deterrent.” Reeves says government agencies are in the process of collecting data related to the efficacy of targeted grazing for fire prevention. Right now, there isn’t much research. 10REEVES: “We are really anxious to partner with people and organizations to try and make that happen.” Reeves says there’s no one solution to wildfire problems -- but with mindful application, grazing could be a helpful tool for fuel mitigation. In Spokane, I’m Rachel Sun. [nat pop, goat sounds]