Goats At Dam Cut Landscaping Costs For Corps

BUFORD, GA — Sixteen grazing goats, known as the “Chew Crew,” are in charge of trimming the treacherous terrain above Buford Dam, a site run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Mobile District.

Since the late 1970s, goats have been “employed” by the Corps to roam the steep hills at the dam, saving contract landscapers from tackling the steep slopes with weed eaters and hedge clippers.

“The slopes exceed 40 percent and there are many drop-offs without any protection,” said Cecil L. Quinley, power project manager. “The goat idea originated with a recommendation by a former powerhouse supervisor, Wayne Abernathy.

“There are safety benefits and labor savings,” he said. “The savings amount to thousands of dollars per year.”
Abernathy unleashed his billy goat, Caesar, launching the Chew Crew concept and the technique has been used by the powerhouse operators ever since.

(Sign up for Patch real-time email alerts for the latest news in Buford — or other neighborhoods. Access Patch on the go with our iPhone app or our brand new app for Android phone users.)

“There are two areas they help with,” said Quinley. “One is around the Buford Powerhouse, which has approximately four acres of land around it. The other area is adjacent to the powerhouse and has 18 acres.”
As with all Corps projects, each project has a business line, the money stream from which each project is funded. Quinley joked that the goats, too, have business lines. The goats around the powerhouse are under the Hydropower business line; while the goats that graze adjacent to the powerhouse are under the Environmental Stewardship business line.

The dam, originally built in the 1950s, is responsible for power production, flood protection, water supply, navigation, recreation and fish and wildlife management.

The goats munch on vegetation, briers and poison ivy and quench their thirst by seeking out “water pockets” between the rocks. Quinley said they rarely need to see the veterinarian.

The goats might be easy prey to coyotes, but they have a donkey protector that patrols the hills with them.

“The donkey is not their only friend,” Quinley said. “There are social media sites that follow the goats, including YouTube, Facebook and Twitter. There seems to be a large public following of the goats.”

Going by the posts on their Facebook page, seeing the goats as people pass by the dam seems to somehow improve people's mood.

Jennifer Key Davis posed, "It's Friday: Good omen for the weekend! One goat walking along the rocks this morning."

On another day, Jennifer, who seems to be their biggest fan, noted, "hmmm...I seem to side with the black goat. He seems to be the odd goat out, so I feel like it's actually a special day when he's in sight. And now that I've seen pictures, I see that there are tan/white goats as well as white goats. Not sure what they mean."

David Haines commented one day, "Saw one white and one black walking the fence by the road yesterday early afternoon. It made me smile:) I think the black one was feeling melancholy."

Brenda Musone wanted to see even more of the goats, commenting, "Sure would be nice to have a live cam."

John S Ruffin Jr took some photos of the goats, right up next to the fence and posted, "These two greeted us yesterday! Cecil has them trained well!"

Bitsy Bernat was originally concerned about the goats, upon first seeing them, and said, "My kids and I hiked the trails around Bufford Dam for the first time today. I saw these goats and was quite worried. I thought it'd be silly to call 911 (now I know how silly that really would have been), but I could not get these animals off my mind. I decided to Google it to see if by chance someone else found this odd. I found this page, love the story, and my family and I are at ease knowing they are supposed to be there."

Diane Marie was also concerned by the goats and may have asked the post profound question, "didn't see them today. Where do they go at night?"

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Corps of Engineers