Goats assist with the Lakebed Rehabilitation Project

The Lakebed Rehabilitation Project at Johnstown Flood National Memorial continues to move forward. One of the goals of the project is to restore the view to what the lakebed looked like shortly after the dam broke on May 31, 1889. This area was cleared about thirty years ago, but vegetation has since grown back.

In January, National Park Service Wildland Fire and Aviation staff began to clear out vegetation in the lakebed using a masticator machine. Johnstown Flood National Memorial maintenance staff has done some manual clearing.

There are many places that machine and man cannot clear with safety. That is where Allegheny Goatscape and Team Diamond play a pivotal role in the project. Team Diamond gets its name from the miniature donkey who accompanies the herd in a protective role.

Allegheny Goatscape, based out of Pittsburgh, PA provided a herd of twelve goats along with the miniature donkey. The herd can eat approximately an acre of vegetation every two weeks and will lay the groundwork for future clearing. Park staff and volunteers tend to the herd daily. The fencing will periodically be moved to different areas of the lakebed as the herd progresses. Weather dependent, Team Diamond will be on site through the first two weeks in November.

Besides being able to access the challenging landscape with ease, another benefit of the herd is that they are eco-friendly. Gavin Deming, Executive Director of Allegheny Goatscape, said that goats are a friendlier face compared to machinery. These friendly faces have brought increase visitation to the park since their arrival, some people even coming daily since the goats arrived!

This project will continue through summer 2021.