Brief

This 2025 budget item proposes that the City piggyback on an existing Los Angeles County contract to deploy goat herds for vegetation management and brush clearance on city property. The motion aims to reduce wildfire fuel loads in a cost-effective way by leveraging the county's existing procurement. The file was referred to Budget and Finance Committee and Public Safety Committee in August 2025 and was scheduled for Government Operations Committee review in August 2026.

Full summary

Council File 25-0600-S85 is a budget recommendation (R41) that directs the city to enter into a piggyback arrangement with Los Angeles County's existing contract for goat grazing services. The proposal uses contracted herds of goats to perform brush clearance and vegetation management on city-owned land, with the dual benefits of reducing wildfire fuel loads and avoiding the cost and environmental impacts of mechanical or chemical clearing methods. This approach has been adopted by other municipalities and counties throughout California as an efficient, natural method of defensible space maintenance. The file was initiated by Council and referred simultaneously to the Budget and Finance Committee and Public Safety Committee in early August 2025. A subsequent procedural step routed the item to the Government Operations Committee, which scheduled it for discussion on August 4, 2026. The file remains open with an expiration date of July 30, 2028, indicating it is still pending substantive action or approval. No vote by the full Council has yet been recorded, and the item has not advanced past committee stage. The delay between initial referral and committee scheduling suggests either routine processing or possible need for coordination between departments on implementation details such as site selection, contract terms, and liability considerations.

Activity (2)

• 2026-07-30 Government Operations Committee scheduled item for committee meeting on August 4, 2026.
• 2025-08-05 Council document(s) referred to Budget and Finance Committee; Public Safety Committee.

Documents (1)

• 2025-07-30 Budget Recommendation · other