The San Dieguito River Park
18372 Sycamore Creek Rd.
Escondido, CA 92025
Phone: (858) 674-2270
Fax: (858) 674-2280

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Dieguito Discoveries

Dieguito Discoveries – Uncovering the fascinating people and places in the San Dieguito River Valley

Deborah Johnson
Dieguito Discoveries #5

San Pasqual’s Army of Goats

There is a new Battle of San Pasqual. The advancing enemy, a tenacious habitat-killer called “perennial pepperweed.”

Protecting the home front, a herd of more than 200 Boer crossbreed goats: moms, dads and kids.

San Diego County Watershed Management Specialist Bill Winans says the battle is serious: “Unless we can get rid of this, this forest is doomed.”

Bill is standing in a field of Lepidium latifolium, commonly known as perennial pepperweed. The plants are tall (growing as high as six feet), thick with lots of long branches and topped with clusters of small white flowers.

The forest Winan is referring to is about 75 acres of sycamores and willows, marsh grasses, native radishes and other indigenous flora located in an area bracketed by San Pasqual Valley Road, San Pasqual Road and Old Milky Way in south Escondido. Among the animals living there is the Least Bell’s Vireo, a bird on the Federal endangered species list.

Perennial pepperweed is a belligerent home wrecker. It’s a member of the mustard family, with some respectable cousins, including broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts. But pepperweed’s thick roots spread out deeply, enabling it to dominate the habitat, eventually crowding out other plants. In northern San Diego County, the infestation covers nearly 400 acres from Lake Hodges to the San Pasqual Agricultural preserve.

How to eliminate the pepperweed? With its aggressive seeding and deep and crawling roots, it has defied many attempts to kill it off. And the challenge is even greater in an environmentally sensitive area like the San Pasqual Valley.

Enter Hugh Bunten and his herd of goats all the way from Lakeview, Oregon.

Bunten’s herd specializes in vegetative management, something he says he got into by chance after establishing his goat business for meat production. “…an e-mail came across my desk…. My wife had been networking with other goat owners so we put together a package.”

Bunten has since done projects in Idaho and in Descanso Gardens, near Los Angeles.

The plan seems simple. For three weeks this past May, the goats moved through the trial target area between San Pasqual Valley Road and Old Milky Way eating down the tasty (the goats like it, Hugh says) pepperweed. They trample the stalks. Then the goats went home to Oregon. A month or so later, Hugh will bring the goats back for another few weeks of pepperweed dining. Another respite, and then a third gastronomical visit by the goats. Watershed Management Specialist Winans hopes that by then, the pepperweed will have been eaten down enough that a treatment of herbicide will completely eradicate the plant, at least in this trial area.

So far, Winans doesn’t see much impact by the goats. Hugh Bunten is an optimist. “This is not an exact science, but if we target it over a couple of years, we’ll get it on its knees.”

Bill Winans is willing to try. He is a little worried about the willows. It seems that the goats enjoy willows very much and their nibbling has damaged a few trees. Bunten promises to keep the goats focused on the perennial pepperweed.

How do you “focus” a herd of goats? Bunten says that goats are very smart, “…way smarter than a dog and easier to train than children.” He didn’t want to share what he calls “trade secrets” but according to Bunten’s assistant goatherd, John Adams, it’s all about understanding the herd as a single unit and working them naturally. Whatever their method, Hugh, John and the herd dog Steve, are very confident that the goats will vanquish the perennial pepperweed.

Standing in the herd of goats, you can see how very attractive and pleasant they are. Brown, white, some with horns, the adults are well mannered, clean and very intent on munching.

It’s the kids, literally, that are entertaining. They jump and frolic and are extremely curious, coming up to a visitor and nibbling on her jeans.

In the first month Bunten’s herd lived in the San Pasqual preserve, nine kids were born. They cluster around the small trailer that serves as office and base.

They headed home at the end of May. But they’ll be back several times during the summer to continue their moveable feast.

This experiment with goats is a test and Bill Winans isn’t sure of success. At the same time, he says it is imperative that they come up with a battle plan to defeat perennial pepperweed. “If we don’t control this plant, it will continue downstream and creep its way upstream. We’ll lose a lot of our habitat…. we’ll lose our plant diversity, so that’s why it’s important to succeed.”