Tamworth goats to blaze bushfire mitigation trail in Coolatai, working alongside the NSW Rural Fire Service

A 50-strong herd has been hired at Coolatai as a result of a recommendation from the Independent Bushfire Inquiry after the horror Black Summer bushfires of 2019 and 2020 left massive destruction in its wake.

Northern Tablelands MP Adam Marshall joined the NSW Rural Fire Service crews in the area last week to welcome the new brigade.

"As the smoke cleared after the Black Summer bushfires it was clear to everyone a new approach to fire mitigation was required in NSW," he said.

"As a result, NSW RFS has been trialling herds of goats as a way of knocking-down heavy vegetation in areas that are difficult to clear through traditional hazard reduction techniques.

"The supervised goats, which are from Tamworth, have moved into Coolatai where they are strip grazing a 2.3 hectare block of Crown Land on the western edge of the village."

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The area has been divided into seven blocks which the herd will graze for approximately six to eight weeks.

Mr Marshall said the kids are definitely not working on an empty stomach, with estimates they will chew through approximately a quarter of a hectare of dense vegetation in just two weeks - and medium density vegetation in one week.

"If you think about the rugged terrain of our region this novel solution for managing vegetation is just the thing for protecting people's lives and property, and the best thing is it can be implemented rain, hail or shine 365 days a year," he said.

The goat trial at Coolatai has been a joint initiative between the NSW Rural Fire Service north-western area command community risk team, Crown Lands and Local Land Services.

While in the area the RFS hopes to slash an asset protection zone on an area of about 2.2 hectares behind a residence on the western side of the village.

The NSW Government has committed almost half-a-billion dollars in response to the inquiry, which includes almost $38 million for additional mitigation crews to deliver greater hazard reduction.

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