The Rio Grande Trail is on the old Aspen branch of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. When RFTA inherited the corridor, it was an ecological disaster, so we needed a systematic approach to begin managing the weeds.

Under the Colorado Noxious Weed Act, noxious weeds are non-native plants that have no natural predators here. They were often brought here for different reasons, whether from Europe or Asia, but they have displaced many native plants. As a result, they disrupt the ecosystem, create poorer habitat for wildlife, and degrade property values.

Right here, we have a whole bunch of common tansy. We also have lots of different thistles, cheatgrass, bindweed, and many other noxious weeds. Unfortunately, these weeds are here to stay. It is now up to us to manage and control them.

The topography in this area makes it difficult to mow. My predecessor started by spraying chemicals, but when I started, that approach was not working. We were going to the same spots, spraying the same chemicals, and not seeing any results. Chemicals are only doing one thing: killing. We are trying to build soil health and bring life back, so we started using other tools. Now, we are using goats.

Goats are browsers, and browsers eat broad leaves. That works well with noxious weeds because many of these plants have large, broad leaves. Goats will generally focus on those first and then work toward the grasses. It is up to Go Green and Donnie, and they do a great job understanding the goals for each particular piece of land. Once they feel that goal has been achieved, we move the goats along so that we do not damage the land or eat it down to the ground.

Based on my past experience, when the goats come in here, they clean it all up. You are able to see the ground. The goats are also aerating the soil, stabilizing the steep slopes, fertilizing, eating nutrients, and recycling them back into the ground. They are doing a lot of different things at once.

Four weeks ago, we started here at our unloading spot. To my right is an ungrazed area with willows, tansy, and a lot of bindweed on the ground. To my left is the area where we unloaded and started four weeks ago. We have grazed about six and a half miles down the trail corridor.

On the left side, you can see the fence line. The willows have been pushed back, allowing sunlight and moisture to reach the ground below them, where the grasses can access it. Along the disturbed soil by the trail, we hand-broadcast native seed. You can see the grass starting to reestablish here.

Everything has been recycled: the thistle, the mullein, the tansy, and other biennials, perennials, and undesired plants have been returned to the soil. With their hooves, the goats have pushed the seeds we hand-broadcast into the soil. Now we are ready for moisture and sunlight.

It has been about four weeks since we did the first shoot. My beard has gotten longer, the days are shorter, and the goats are still munching along, doing erosion control and brush removal. You can probably recognize this clematis from our first shoot, and you can see how they have stripped it down. There are no leaves left on it.

The goats are allowing us to see the ground and giving us access to these areas. The land is definitely transforming before our eyes. If you are on the ground every day, it is obvious that the ground is being energized.

We are trying to be good environmental stewards here, and this area is clearly not a good place for chemicals. There is a ditch right here, and the Roaring Fork River is right there. That river is a prized fishery, with lots of boaters and kids swimming, so we definitely do not want to harm those bodies of water. This area would otherwise be very challenging to manage for weeds.

People generally come out to the Rio Grande Trail to enjoy the beautiful scenery, nature, and wildlife. There are trees, flowers, grasses, birds, and bees. People love that. They come out to exercise and get fresh air, and when they see the goats, their faces light up.

When you are walking around in a white suit with a backpack spraying blue liquid, people run away from you. When you have goats out here, people come to you. They want to talk about them, ask what they are doing, why they are here, and all sorts of things. People ask me every day when the goats are coming back, so it is a good opportunity to engage the community.

The relationship with these plants and the land is all connected. We are all connected to the soil. We are standing on it right now, and we really need to take care of it.