Goat-getters.

The Oakland and Berkeley hills in California are particularly ripe for fires. Past drought years and a bark beetle infestation that have killed off thousands of acres of trees combined with wild lands, steep slopes, winds, and thousands of homes and people means that an unchecked fire could create havoc. Many residents and public agencies call in the local forest fire prevention team: an environmentally friendly, non-pesticide, non-gas guzzling weed and scrub management team of sure-footed goats; shepherds, often astride horses; and alert border collies.

Goats graze along the hillsides eating unwanted grass and weeds, cheaper and less intrusive than pesticides and mechanical equipment. Places considered impossible to reach by human or mechanical hands are completely cleared. Seeds are eaten. And local residents are treated to bucolic scenes of antic-prone goat breeds grazing through overgrown land, climbing trees, and butting one another with only an occasional bleat to disturb, or actually enhance, the environment. Areas are made fireproof. The benefits are clear.

The potential negatives are also clear. Left on their own, the goats could make matters worse. These agile, woolly garbage cans are actually responsible for the extinction of some of California's native plants. Before attempting a project, however, native plant cycles, ground-nesting birds' reproductive patterns, and endangered habitats are all researched and taken into consideration. Since overgrazing can create its own list of problems, many of the goat teams try to work with land managers to achieve an appropriate level of vegetation removal that will reduce fire damage without causing erosion.

In order to mitigate ecological catastrophes, the goats need containment and close supervision. Team owners often safeguard protected plants and areas with portable electric fences. Contained by the fences and supervised by knowledgeable shepherds and hard-working border collies, the Berkeley goats have become an environmental asset.

They're also adding a chapter to a story written through the ages and across continents. Goats have long played an important role in society, providing milk, cheese, and meat for food; skin and hair for clothing, water carriers and parchment; images for religion, mythology, and folklore; and, unfortunately, sometimes ruining landscapes and causing economic and ecological havoc.

When humans began domesticating goats in the Middle East at least 11,000 years ago, they made a huge lifestyle change. They switched from being hunter-gathers to being tillers of soil and herders of animals. When the first farmers moved into Europe about 7,500 years ago, goats came with them, helping to revolutionize society.

Today, in a world riddled with economic and ecological failures, the Bay Area goats are at the forefront of another fundamental lifestyle change. They are showing residents it is possible to stem the tide of some environmental and ecological disasters through sure-footed hard work in a non-pesticide, non-gas guzzling way.