The Baa-tany Project

Angora Goats To Graze On Roan Mountain

Two eternal mysteries surround Roan Mountain like a thick morning mist.
First, why are the balds bald? And second, should the forest service exert any particularly strenuous efforts to keep the balds bald?
Theories bordering on legend – and occasionally crossing that border – suggest that prehistoric mastodons and mammoths roamed the mountain and grazed voraciously. When they became extinct, bison and elk took over.
It has also been suggested that a lightning strike or series of strikes may have sparked a fire or two. And of course, no mountain legend is complete without the devil walking across the landscape wreaking havoc in his footsteps.
Whatever their origin, Roan’s grassy balds – Round Bald, Jane Bald, Grassy Ridge and Hump Mountain – are actually fields on the densely forested mountain that give Appalachian Trail hikers short stretches in the sun with some nice long-range views.
They are also unique ecosystems with an intriguing assortment of rare plants and insects. Therefore, the forest service has elected to preserve them, or at least try to, against the forest’s encroachment. A third question then becomes how to go about it.
One possible solution will be tested during the upcoming summer months. A small herd of angora goats will be put out to graze in some of the areas most heavily overtaken by woody plant invasion.
“It’s very expensive keeping the balds open,” said Julie Judkins of the Appalachian Trail Conservancy in Asheville, N.C. “We’ve tried a number of different management techniques. We have done mowing when we can, although it’s very expensive and there are a lot of rocks. We have tried grazing before, but access for cattle is limited, and then you have to think about water and fencing and how to keep that stuff maintained.”
Goats present the same types of problems, but on a more manageable scale. The plan is to keep the goats in portable, solar-powered paddocks that can be moved around, so that up to an acre at a time of invasive foliage will be consumed before the fence is moved to the next spot.
Volunteers will haul water to the goats and stick around to keep an eye on them.
“They’re going to try to have someone monitoring them, so it’s high maintenance,” Judkins said. “And we have funding for just one summer,” earmarked to cover minimal travel and equipment expenses.
Angora goats, a species that has brought us many wonderful sweaters, were chosen for the project because they are tolerant of high elevations, in this case around 6,000 feet – one of the highest points in the Appalachian range – because their luxurious coats keep them cozy on cold nights.
“They really love blackberries and that’s one of the main plants up there, and the biggest bonus for this whole project is we can monitor the effectiveness of using these goats for the grassy bald restoration, make comparisons for vegetation changes over time and see if those changes really help some of the rare plant communities up there,” Judkins said.
One mile of the Appalachian Trail cuts through all four of Roan’s balds, and if you stand on the summit near where the Cloudland Hotel once stood, you can see them all laid out in a row, interconnected by ever-narrowing corridors, like pearls strung along a very thin string.
Botanists believe the balds are declining due to changes in soil, climate change and the loss of large herbivores, all of which have made them more hospitable to woody plant incursions.
“If they find this browsing sampling is effective, they’ll apply it in other areas,” Judkins said. “The first step is knowing if it works. It’s kind of doing a feasibility study for us.”
Roan Mountain straddles the North Carolina-Tennessee state line and hosts rhododendon festivals in both states, to be held this year June 20-22.
Some of the project’s funding came from the North Carolina Appalachian Trail license plate program, a specialty plate that, when purchased from DOT, kicks back about $20 per plate into the Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s grant program. A bill in the state legislature is pending to create a similar plate for Tennessee, where the tag design is already in place, and proceeds will be used in the same way as in North Carolina – on grants for special projects.
Applications are submitted to the ATC for $5,000 grants and, in the case of the goat project, an anonymous donor has supplemented that funding. Another strategy to be tested this summer is the adopt-a-goat program.
“If you adopt a goat, you get a card, a picture and a lock of hair,” Judkins said. “You get a chance to name it and get a regular e-mail newsletter on the project for only $20 a month, or $50 for three months.”
The goats will go home after three months on Roan Mountain, possibly to return next summer if all goes well. The herd belongs to Todd Eastin of Shady Valley, who is working on this project along with Jamey Donaldson.
Volunteers are needed to act the pastoral role of goatherder.
“You can go camp with them, carry water from stream and provide information and training,” Judkins said.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
Call Julie Judkins at (828) 254-3708, e-mail or visit http://www.appalachiantrail.org.

LOIS CAROL WHEATLEY is a freelance writer. Contact her at .