Featured photo: 48 happy goats and one sheep came to Ramona Park in north Flint to clear brush.
Written by and with photos by L. M. Land
Flint’s Land Bank has more than 10,100 vacant lots according to their annual report for 2023/2024.
To combat the growing brush problem on these lots, a pilot program to use goats to clear brush was started on June 23, 2025, thanks to a grant from the Saginaw Bay Watershed Initiative Network. The goal is to turn overgrown empty lots into vibrant community spaces.
48 goats and one sheep happily began clearing the dense, invasive buckthorn and poison ivy in the vacant lots next to Ramona Park, located in Flint’s Metawanee Hills neighborhood.
Yes, goats can eat poison ivy. That certainly makes them GOAT.
The goats will be back to work two more times this summer, explained Kelly Jewett, Land Bank’s urban conservation fellow. Cutting the buckthorns new growth has to be repeated at least three times every three weeks to kill the root. Otherwise, the plant will grow back bigger and more vigorous.
Native trees were wrapped with cages to prevent the goats from eating them.
In the future, native flowers will be planted, making the empty lots beautiful, chemical free and supportive of native pollinators.
Why goats? Goats are browsers who eat leaves, twigs and woody plants, unlike cattle, sheep or horses who prefer grass. They also have voracious appetites. Goats are a pesticide-free option, and their waste is a good fertilizer.
Invasive buckthorn is a plant introduced to the United States in the 1800s from Europe and Western Asia. This non-native plant spreads aggressively, crowding out native plants and disrupting native ecosystems.
Buckthorn is also growing into the lawns, shrinking the size of the open grass areas. Having less open lawn is a neighborhood safety concern.
The lots hosting the visiting goats are mowed by Mount Tabor Missionary Baptist Church, Pastor Floyd Fuller, minister and chief mower.
Sources:
https://the-land-bank.yearly.report/gclba–#/2024
https://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/terrestrial/plants/common-buckthorn
