Neighbors Fear Gnawing Goats Can Damage Oaks

Neighbors fearing that a developer was using a herd of gnawing goats to damage legally protected oak trees on Andora Avenue called in the city's assistant chief forester Friday for an inspection.

Injured trees would eventually die, making it convenient for the developer to remove them to build an access road, neighbors said.

However, Ronald Lorenzen of the city’s urban Forestry Division did not find permanent damage.

Although the animals were gone, Lorenzen said he could see indentations on the ground, goat feces and missing leaves indicating there was herd of at least a dozen goats. Goats are often used to clear land of brush during wildfire season.

“There isn’t any bark damage from gnawing animals. They definitely were under the trees,” said Lorenzen who’s been a self-described tree hugger for 40 years. “Animals have been here foraging, but there’s no permanent or structural damage to the trees but they are stripped of leaves.”

Lorenzen added he did not believe the weight of the herd damaged any tree roots.

California oaks are protected by a city ordinance.  If anyone, such as a developer, wants to remove an oak, they must go through the city’s permitting process.

Chatsworth environmentalist, Teena Takata, who will be impacted by a proposed 44 new-home development at the end of Andora Avenue, was concerned the goats were damaging the oaks in what she describes as the last remaining woodlands in the area.

“The oaks have already been ‘trimmed’ of all vegetation to approximately 5-feet to 6-feet above ground level. Soil compaction and the eating of the bark from the mature trees will kill them over time,” Takata wrote in an e-mail complaint to the city late last week.

The goats were roaming the grove adjacent to a proposed 90-acre housing development called the Andora Avenue TTM Project.

Tom Stemnock of Studio City-based Planning Associates, which represents the developer, Tone Yee, did not respond to three requests for comment.

Takata believes the oak grove blocks an access road the developer wants build.

“So it appears innovative approaches are being used to injure them,” Takata wrote. “Reportedly this is weed killing. It’s oak eating. The goats prefer the oaks, obviously, as they have already stripped off the
bottom five feet of vegetation and most limbs that are low, while leaving the mustard (weeds) aside in favor of the oaks.”

Lorenzen said that yes, leaves, stems and twigs appeared to be stripped from the dozen or so oaks, however, no permanent damage has been done and the oaks were not in danger of dying.

Takata said she was disappointed in Lorenzen's evaluation.

Lorenzen speculated the property owner may have been required by the fire department to do brush clearance. He said it’s not unusual for owners of large swaths of land to bring in a herd of goats to come into compliance.

“They are usually only there a few days, and then they are removed,” Lorenzen said.

The Urban Forestry Division, a section of the Department of Public Works, Bureau of Street Services, is in charge of enforcing the protected tree ordinance.