Open Space Advisory Board Agenda and Packet 2023 12 13

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Open Space Advisory Board Minutes November 8, 2023 Page 4 of 5 remediation. Helen thought this presentation would make a good education program for the public and Ember agreed. 9. Discussion Item: 2023 Open Space Goat Grazing. Presented by Kaiti Singley, Goat Green, LLC. Ms. Singley introduced her company, Goat Green. They use goats for a variety of land management goals. They spend a lot of time on public education. Goats have a lot of positive impacts on soil beyond simply cropping vegetation. Goats are good at removing fire loads and grazing in places machinery can't reach. They are browsers and prefer leaves over grass. This year they grazed at North Open Space in the spring and fall. She shared some before and after pictures. During the fall they also grazed the goats into city ditches. The largest predator of their goats is off -leash dogs and she was happy to report that there were no dog conflicts on Louisville Open Space this year. Susan asked if the goats could over -graze grass. Ms. Singley replied that they only stay on the graze for 8 days, so overgrazing wasn't likely. Charles asked about the feedback from the neighbors, and she replied that the feedback was all very positive. 10. Discussion Item: Overview of 2023 Fire Mitigation Efforts and Program Refinement for 2024. Presented by Nathaniel Goeckner, Natural Resource Supervisor. Nathaniel is the new Natural Resource Supervisor for the City of Louisville. He used this time to introduce himself and present an ArcGIS "storymap" that is on the Open Space webpage and will be on a County -wide database, detailing City's the wildfire mitigation work. It maps mowing and grazing and is searchable by addresses, so citizens can see what work is being done locally. This document is live and will be constantly updated. Nathaniel has a background in wildland fires and forest restoration. He commented that there has already been a lot of remediation being done in Louisville, like trail and perimeter mowing. The goal of perimeter mowing is to drop the flame -length of a fire and to allow firefighters access. Fire can never be fully excluded from a landscape, but mitigation can make it easier to control. Helen observed that social trails are appearing in mowed sections on open space, and she is very worried about their impact. Helen suggested that these materials state that mowed areas are not to be used as dog off -leash areas and trails. Ember thought that could be part of the education during 2024 and suggested that OSAB could advise on messaging. Nathaniel shared a summary analysis of the grazing and mowing totals and timing for the 2023 season. Total acres mitigated: 412. Total miles mitigated: 187.6. Nathaniel thought this was a remarkably high total for a staff of 7 people. He pointed out that native shortgrass prairie is shorter and gives more open ground and doesn't all cure at the same time. All these things make it more fire resistant and resilient. The noxious weed management Open Space is currently doing to fight cheatgrass and Japanese brome is also helpful to reduce fire. Laura asked how much advertisement for the storymap there had been. Ember said that it is on the Open Space webpage, but they will push it out more after they have received some feedback about it.