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Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to let the Allegheny GoatScape nonprofit deploy a grazing goat herd there and in other city parks to be determined. These two helpers pictured aren't among the potential South Side cleanup crew.
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Nine goats and a miniature donkey may help clear overgrowth in South Side Park

Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette

Nine goats and a miniature donkey may help clear overgrowth in South Side Park

Hungry goats may soon trim a badly overgrown stretch of South Side Park.

Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to let the Allegheny GoatScape nonprofit deploy a grazing goat herd there and in other city parks to be determined. A final vote is due next week.

The yearlong agreement wouldn’t cost the city anything, said Marcelle Newman, an assistant director in public works. For the first target, Friends of South Side Park landed a $10,000 grant from the Allegheny County Conservation District to cover the goats’ services, organizer Sarah Baxendell said.

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“No one has been able to tackle this invasive mayhem,” said Ms. Baxendell, a co-facilitator at the friends group and project manager at the Hilltop Alliance collaborative. The alliance supports the friends group, which advocates for the 65-acre park near Arlington Avenue.

A roughly six-acre area near the Bandi Schaum Community Garden has grown so thick with invasive species and vines that it’s unusable, Ms. Baxendell said. Residents know the rugged, dense section of the park as “Jurassic Valley.”

That’s where nine goats and a miniature donkey are expected to spend some six to eight weeks — eating their way through the overwhelming vegetation, said Gavin Deming, the Allegheny GoatScape director.

“Nearly all of what they’ll be able to eat is invasive and unwanted. It kind of resets that space in a way,” Mr. Deming said.

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The effort, which could open the ground to trails and other uses, comes as the city pursues a master plan for the park.

Ms. Baxendell said a public event would celebrate the goats and spotlight the park, likely in early July.

The city’s proposed agreement with Allegheny GoatScape builds on a similar arrangement last year involving a predecessor organization, Steel City Grazers, under which goats trimmed Highland Park, Emerald View Park and West Penn Park.

Adam Smeltz: 412-263-2625, asmeltz@post-gazette.com, @asmeltz.

First Published: June 15, 2017, 4:00 a.m.

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Pittsburgh City Council gave preliminary approval Wednesday to let the Allegheny GoatScape nonprofit deploy a grazing goat herd there and in other city parks to be determined. These two helpers pictured aren't among the potential South Side cleanup crew.  (Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette)
Michael Henninger/Post-Gazette
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