Rock Springs City Councilman Rick Milonas didn't nibble around the bush during a city council meeting this past week when the topic turned to hiring goats to eat away vegetation partially to blame for local flooding.
"Looks like a jungle down there," Milonas said about the results of a previous $50,000 goat grazing project completed this past spring. "I think it made it worse. Anytime you clip a branch or a plant, they just go crazy."
The council was considering a resolution to authorize a $58,000 contract with LS5 Livestock Co. to bring 150 goats to clear vegetation along the confluence of Killpecker and Bitter creeks. The measure passed 5-1, with only Milonas dissenting.
Mayor Max Mickelson defended the program, explaining that the goal isn't aesthetics but flood prevention.
“Large brush that gathers debris in a flooding situation has been removed,” said Mickelson. “And what is there now is grass. And when there's a flooding event, grass lays down. Shrubs stand strong and cause blockages."
Milonas pressed for details and success metrics, wondering aloud about how the city could claim the program was working.
But for Milonas, this isn't just about goats.
"This whole thing is just so deep," he said in a follow-up interview, which touched on everything from contaminated water to alleged city government corruption. "This is like, just another $108,000 thing that they just threw at it. ... This whole goat thing is insane."
Livestock Solutions
One of the goat wranglers working the creek beds in Rock Springs with 150 goats is Josh Skorcz. He’s seen firsthand how floods can rush down from Wyoming's Red Desert into Rock Springs without warning.
As a former environmental engineer at the Black Butte coal mine from 2012 to 2016, Skorcz witnessed a flood that originated far from the mine site but eventually swept through Rock Springs.
"It didn't even rain at the mine. It rained farther out in the drainage basin in the Red Desert south of the interstate," Skorcz explained. "And that ended up coming through our mine at the time and then flooding all the way into Rock Springs. I remember calling the city to tell them, ‘Hey, you're going to have water coming your way.’"
By clearing weeds and brush using ravenous goats, Rock Springs is tapping into the goats’ ability to devour shrubs and brush that traditional grazing animals won't touch, including greasewood and perennial peppergrass, a noxious weed.
The goat operation approved Tuesday by the city council will run for six to eight weeks, with the animals contained by electric fencing and hard panel pens. But there's a water quality twist: Skorcz plans to haul in water rather than let the goats drink from the creek.
"The water quality on that Killpecker Creek is really bad," Skorcz said. "So we're not going to water the goats in there."
Skorcz's decision reflects documented water quality problems in the area. A 2018 watershed study found contamination in both Bitter Creek and Killpecker Creek.
"A TMDL (Total Maximum Daily Load) investigation has recently been completed on Bitter Creek and Killpecker Creek targeting fecal coliform and chloride," the study stated. "A water quality management plan is currently being initiated.”
The city's contract with LS5 Livestock Company acknowledged this issue, noting that “supplemental watering will have to take place for the goats."
Flood History
In a phone call with Cowboy State Daily, Mickelson elaborated on the city's flood mitigation strategy.
He described how Rock Springs has dealt with periodic flooding since the Union Pacific Coal Company altered the creek bed decades ago, creating ongoing problems for residents along the eastern corridor.
The city’s website recalls how, “In 1916, the Dead Horse Canyon Creek drainage ditch was constructed in partnership with the Union Pacific Railroad to control storm water into Bitter Creek, but in 1924 a devastating flood still affected the railroad, coal mines, and residents living along the creek banks.”
The railroad built a diversion channel to handle flood waters away from the railroad tracks and coal mines, but the flood threat remains, especially when the channel is choked with dense vegetation.
"We see the kind of flooding where the creek backs up, and then people's basements get flooded," Mickelson explained. "So all of the folks that live in that area are compelled to maintain flood insurance."
The mayor emphasized that goats can access areas where heavy equipment cannot, making them essential for clearing vegetation that creates debris dams during high-water events.
"This particular area that this section would address is one bordered by private property and is not accessible to crews with equipment," he said, pleased the council voted to once again send in the goats.
Past Corruption?
For Milonas, sounding an alarm about the city’s two goat contracts connects to deeper concerns about city governance and financial accountability.
He pointed to the conviction of former mayor Tim Kaumo, who was fined more than $5,000 for official misconduct related to using his position to secure engineering contracts for his own business.
"The ex-mayor has been indicted. He's been found guilty. I mean, that's on the record," Milonas said, again bemoaning the cost of the goats.
“We can put a new roof on our civic center for $100,000,” Milonas said, vowing to continue to highlight other things he thinks the city needs more than brush chewing goats.
"Those poor people at animal control, they need a new facility so bad,” said the rookie councilman. “I can't believe the mayor's not even talking about trying to find money for this animal control facility.”
Goat Attack
While tensions swirl in city hall, Skorcz will be down in the creek bed with his goats, tending to the electric fence and making sure no neighborhood dogs try to tangle with the herd.
The goats, a mix of Boer and Spanish breeds, will work 10-14 hours per day.
Among them is Vincent Van Goat.
“The folks we got him from, that's what they named him,” said Skorcz. “Vincent, he's more of a pet than anything, but he's going to be in there."
In the face of criticism from some and hoping to stay out of local political squabbles, Skorcz maintains an unwavering faith in his goats.
"I think using something the most natural way that you possibly can to do something is better than chemicals," he said. "And I think that in this situation that this is a good solution to the problem."
David Madison can be reached at david@cowboystatedaily.com.
