POCATELLO — These billy goats gruff are trading sweet grass for cheatgrass at a local nature preserve.

A local wildlife preserve is cultivating success through its collaboration with a goat-grazing business to tackle invasive weeds, sow seeds and develop the land.

Century Heights Preserve is a 260-acre property within Pocatello city limits that provides important habitat for mule deer and a variety of Idaho wildlife.

“There’s all kinds of animals out here,” said Carly Flandro, communications coordinator for Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust. “There’s coyotes, bull and rattlesnakes, lizards, rabbits, songbirds and raptors. Occasionally, there’s moose coming through here, and then a ton of pollinators like butterflies and bees. There’s also some species of greatest conservation need, which require protection, that make their home here, including a small bird called the sage thrasher and then several different kinds of bats.”

Acquired by the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust in 2018, Century Heights Preserve was initially slated to become a housing development, but the original landowner decided to keep the land intact and gave it to the local nonprofit conservation group.

According to Flandro, hundreds to thousands of mule deer overwinter on its acreage during the harsh winter season, and the land provides essential food sources and habitat for the native species. The area is closed to the public during that time to protect the deer but is open April through October, when area residents can enjoy mountain biking, hiking, photography and wildlife viewing.

Normally, stewards at the land trust use a variety of techniques to mitigate weeds, including herbicide applications via aerial spray from helicopter or plane, or more commonly, using an ATV with a tank on its rear or a backpack-style sprayer.

But through a new collaboration between the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust and Idaho Goat Grazers, the conservation site is growing greener pastures with the help of bleating billy goats that combat invasive cheatgrass one bite at a time.

“They bring in their herd of goats in the fall and the spring, and it’s a way to help control weeds, foster native plant growth, improve wildlife habitat and reduce wildfire risk,” Flandro said. “The main thing that they’re focusing on is cheatgrass. Cheatgrass dries out really fast, which makes it a big wildfire hazard. They’re helping us to cut that down, and they do it in a way that allows us to be less reliant on chemicals.”

Approximately 30 goats are confined to a lowland area at Century Heights Preserve, where they munch on the nonnative cheatgrass, which is often prolific in the continental United States and causes a myriad of issues.

“We not only try to get rid of weeds, but we also proactively plant native plants,” Flandro said. “We bring in sagebrush plugs and wildflower seed, and every fall we make a big effort. If you walk up on the property, you’ll see some plants that are in little (wired) gates, and that’s to protect them from wildlife while they’re growing.”

Zakary Copeland, owner and operator of Aberdeen-based Idaho Goat Grazers, said the goats can often alleviate or wipe out a targeted noxious weed within a three-year trial period.

“If you were to come in here with chemicals, obviously those chemicals go right into the ground,” Copeland said. “If you were to mow it, all you do is spread that seed out. Whereas the goats are consuming it. They’re killing 90-95 percent of the seeds they consume. The main thing is trying to get to where we can go back to more natural ways of handling vegetation. A hundred years ago, there would have been a lot more sheep running through here. It’s a little better for the soil to be able to use animals.”

In addition to all the benefits that come with using the bearded “green machines,” they are also congruent with the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust’s vision for ecological preservation and protecting the sagebrush steppe ecosystem.

“We’re really used to (sagebrush habitats) here, and it feels really common, but they’re actually very special and very fragile,” Flandro said. “This type of ecosystem only exists in North America, and we’re losing more and more of it every decade due to things like development, invasive species and wildfire.”

According to Flandro, certain species depend on the sagebrush habitat, including the pygmy rabbit, pronghorn and greater sage grouse that only reside in the surrounding area.

“It’s super important to protect, and there’s a lot of benefits that come from it,” Flandro said. “It’s what’s called a carbon sink. It helps offset carbon, just like a forest does. It cleans air and it cleans water. So not only animals are benefiting, but all of us who live here. Open spaces and access to nature are also really important for people and for our mental health, and we want to create opportunities for folks to get outside and experience all those benefits that come from exercising and breathing in the fresh air and all that good stuff.”

The Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust has plans for a series of planting days at the end of October and into early November and is looking for volunteers. The stewards have around 6,000 plugs and plant starts that include baby sagebrush and native plants like wild sunflowers.

“We’re going to be up here for seven or eight days, planting all these native plants by hand to try to help improve this area,” Flandro said. “If you come up here, it looks different from the other hillside areas. There’s tons of flowers, it’s extra beautiful, and that’s not an accident. There’s been a lot of time and effort put into making this a nice habitat and a nice space.”

In addition to helping cultivate the Century Heights Preserve, the Sagebrush Steppe Land Trust will host its annual holiday party Nov. 15, the nonprofit’s biggest fundraiser of the year.

For more information on the nonprofit conservation group, visit sagebrushlandtrust.org.