Goats may help prevent wildfires in California as drought worsens The voracious herbivores are being deployed to clear invasive plants throughout wildlands as another catastrophic fire season looms. For the past six years, Alissa Cope’s California company has contracted out goat herds to various clients who need the animals to chow down on unwanted vegetation and invasive plants. “When we got started it was for habitat restoration, and I just got tired of dumping gallons of herbicide on everything,” says Cope, owner of the Sage Environmental Group, a company that specializes in environmental planning with a natural resource focus. “When goats eat the seed, it goes through their digestive tract, and it becomes nonviable. It doesn't grow after it comes out the other end, which is really amazing.”