High on the hill was a lonely goatherd. His name was Todd Waits, and along with two working dogs, he was shepherding about 325 goats.
They were there for wildfire prevention. In central Washington, where wildfires rage in August, vegetation has been called “grassoline,” because it feeds eager flames.
The goats call it dinner.
This year Chelan County hired goats to trim back landscape near a Wenatchee neighborhood that was devastated by the Sleepy Hollow Fire in 2015. This was the first time goats have been used for wildfire prevention in Washington state.
The animals’ ability to climb hills makes them particularly attractive in Broadview, which abuts a steep area where thinning machines can’t go and prescribed burns are out of the question.