Angora Goats Graze on Roan Mountain to Control Invasive Blackberry Bramble

Goats on Roan Mountain, originally uploaded by jekemp.

On our recent trip up into the high country of North Carolina, Katherine and I could not resist the urge to hike to the top of something, that something turned out to be Roan Mountain. The top of Roan Mountain is a grassy bald that affords limitless views of the surrounding mountains and countryside.

As we hiked higher, an amazing discovery! Angora goats grazing on the mountainside. We learned that the goats are there to naturally control an invasive species of Canadian Blackberry. This blackberry bramble if left unchecked would eventually eliminate the rare and beautiful plant diversity on the balds.

Katherine, decided to get close to them and discovered that a few of these goats turned out to be quite friendly. Its amazing what a shared granola bar can do to break the ice.

Further investigation found that these goats need our help to continue their meaningful and valuable work on the mountain. For a low monthly donation, these goats will be able to continue to maintain and beautify the top of Roan Mountain for many summers to come. You may adopt a goat for 1 month, the entire 3 month summer season, or for this year's season.

$20 per month

$50 for 3 months in 2010

$100 for 3 months in 2010 and 3 months in 2011


Here is an example of what a $20.00 donation will get:

1) At least one card, picture and lock of hair from your goat letting you know how much it likes blackberries and spending time on the Grassy Balds

2) The chance to name your goat

3) The satisfaction of knowing you are helping save the unique ecosystem by helping us further develop and refine a model protocol for using goats as a management tool in Grassy Bald restoration.

Here is a link to the project's blog to follow for more information on this interesting project.