Goats and guard dogs help reduce fire fuel at Riverside Park

Goats and guard dogs were working the Grande Ronde River Greenway at Riverside Park, and La Grande Parks and Recreation asked walkers, runners and pet owners to give the animals space through Sunday, June 21. The city said the herd was there to eat down grass and reduce fuel loads along the trail corridor, not to serve as a novelty display, and the animals should not be approached or disturbed.

Visitors were being told to keep their own dogs leashed and under control while the work continued. That warning mattered at Riverside Park, a 12.4-acre city park with an off-leash fenced dog park, because loose pets can interrupt the job and put both people and working animals at risk.

The grazing fit a broader approach to trail and park maintenance in La Grande, where dry vegetation can become a fire concern quickly. The city’s fire department says its mission is to protect lives and property through safety education, fire code enforcement and emergency response, which is the logic behind reducing fuels in public spaces before peak summer heat turns grass and brush into a bigger hazard.

Riverside Park’s greenway is one of the city’s most visible recreation corridors, running about a quarter mile along the Grande Ronde River from the park and also accessible from a trailhead off May Lane. Parks and Recreation Director Stu Spence oversees a department that manages year-round programs and facilities, and the city’s Parks Master Plan maps out work on parks, open spaces, trails, recreation facilities and community forestry from 2022 to 2027. The goat grazing was part of that longer-term stewardship, and the image circulating with the reminder came from last year’s trimming effort, underscoring that this seasonal vegetation management has become a recurring tool rather than a one-time experiment.