Goats continue to make a difference in fight against invasive species in 2026
Since first testing goat grazing in 2023, Fort McCoy’s Directorate of Public Works Environmental Division Natural Resources Branch has continued evaluating how targeted goat browsing can be combined with mechanical removal, herbicide treatments, biological controls, monitoring, and other methods to manage invasive vegetation.
By 2026, the results were becoming increasingly evident.
Natural Resources Specialist Jessica Salesman said the goats have made a noticeable difference in invasive-species control, both in Fort McCoy’s cantonment area and across its military training areas.
“The goats really made a difference,” Salesman said. “We’ve seen them make a difference both in the cantonment and out on the ranges.”
The use of goats is one part of Fort McCoy’s larger integrated approach to invasive-species management. Rather than relying on one treatment method, Natural Resources Branch personnel combine multiple techniques based on the species being treated, the location, the density of the infestation and the needs of the area.
That approach is particularly important at Fort McCoy, where invasive woody plants can form dense stands that interfere with training, alter habitat and crowd out native vegetation.
Goats are particularly useful because they browse vegetation that many other livestock generally avoid, including woody plants and weeds. At Fort McCoy, they have been used to repeatedly defoliate invasive shrubs and consume smaller stems and regrowth.
The goal is not simply to have goats eat invasive plants once.
Repeated browsing places stress on the plants by removing leaves and young growth. Over time, repeated stress can deplete the plants’ stored energy and reduce their density, making it easier for natural-resources personnel to conduct follow-up treatments.
Salesman said that approach has become increasingly productive as Fort McCoy has learned how best to prepare areas for the goats.
The installation initially tested goat browsing in fall 2023 in wooded blocks heavily affected by glossy buckthorn near the track and Building 1147. The effort expanded into training areas in 2024. In 2025, goats began working in Training Area C-04 near Firing Point 417 before moving through designated blocks in C-15 and C-16. They also worked in the cantonment area.
During the 2025 season, Fort McCoy personnel were still evaluating the program and determining how best to make goat browsing effective in different vegetation conditions. One challenge was that some invasive stems had become too tall and dense for the goats to reach the tops of the plants effectively.
Wisconsin Conservation Corps crews and Challenge Academy cadets assisted by cutting vegetation back, encouraging new growth that was at a height the goats could more easily browse. That experience helped refine the process.
In 2026, goat grazing continued in Training Areas C-04, C-15 and C-16. The work became one of several ongoing components of Fort McCoy’s extensive invasive-species management program.
During July alone, goat-grazing treatments covered approximately 37.6 acres. The work addressed invasive species including autumn olive, garlic mustard, glossy buckthorn and honeysuckle, officials reported. When the individual species treatments are counted separately, the effort represented approximately 55.1 species-acres of treatment.
The goats also moved from training areas into the cantonment during July, continuing their role in areas where invasive vegetation has been identified.Salesman said seeing the goats work in b oth environments has helped demonstrate their value.
The cantonment and range areas present different management challenges, but goat browsing provides Fort McCoy with another way to put pressure on invasive vegetation without relying solely on herbicides or mechanical equipment, NRB officials said. That is an important benefit of the program.
Invasive-species management can require substantial amounts of labor, equipment and chemical treatment. Fort McCoy’s natural-resources personnel therefore look for ways to make each treatment method complement the others.
Wildlife Biologist Kevin Luepke previously explained that the goats are intended to be part of that integrated approach. Vegetation can be mechanically cut or shredded, allowed to resprout, browsed by goats and then treated with herbicide during a later growing season. The repeated stress makes the plants more vulnerable to subsequent treatment.
“The goats will be used in an integrated approach,” Luepke said in 2025. “This will put a stressor on the invasive shrubs multiple times.”
The approach also can reduce the amount of herbicide required. Salesman previously noted that goat grazing is not intended to provide complete control of invasive species by itself. Instead, it makes follow-up work more efficient and can dramatically reduce herbicide use. Goat-grazing contractors in the Upper Midwest generally recommend multiple browsings over several years, depending on the species and site conditions.
That long-term approach remains important because Fort McCoy manages a wide variety of invasive plant species across nearly 60,000 acres of military training land.
The installation’s broader invasive-species program includes herbicide applications, hand pulling, mechanical removal, biological controls, mapping, monitoring, early detection and prevention. In July 2026, for example, natural-resources personnel treated approximately 1,865.8 acres through herbicide applications and hand-pulling activities, addressing numerous invasive plant species.
Goat grazing therefore represents one specialized tool within a much larger program.
Fort McCoy’s natural-resources staff also continue working with the Monroe County Invasive Species Working Group and other partners to share information and coordinate invasive-species management throughout the region.
The installation hosted the 2026 Monroe County Invasive Species Working Group Summer Field Day in June, bringing together natural-resource professionals, land managers, agency representatives and private citizens to discuss invasive-species identification, treatment and restoration.
The need for that work extends beyond environmental stewardship. Invasive vegetation can alter habitat, reduce biodiversity, interfere with training areas and create additional management and safety concerns. Fort McCoy’s natural-resources program works to maintain healthy forests, prairies, wetlands and other habitats while ensuring the installation’s lands remain available for military training.
The goat program demonstrates how Fort McCoy can use an unconventional method to help meet both goals.
What started in 2023 as a test involving areas heavily affected by glossy buckthorn has developed into a continuing management practice that is now being applied across both cantonment and training areas.
For Salesman, the value of the program is found not simply in the number of acres grazed, but in what the goats allow Fort McCoy’s natural-resources team to accomplish afterward.
The goats remove foliage and young growth, put repeated stress on invasive plants and make remaining vegetation more accessible to follow-up crews and treatments.
The work will continue.
Fort McCoy officials expect invasive-species management to remain a long-term effort, requiring repeated treatments and continued monitoring. As the installation gains more experience with targeted grazing, the goats will remain one of the tools available to natural-resources personnel as they work to reduce invasive vegetation and protect Fort McCoy’s diverse natural habitats.
At Fort McCoy, sometimes fighting an invasive species means bringing in a crew with chainsaws or herbicide. Sometimes it means using biological controls or prescribed fire.
And sometimes, the solution has four legs, horns, and an appetite for buckthorn. The strongest factual update from the 2026 material is the transition from “we’re still testing this” in 2025 to documented, continuing use across C-04, C-15, C-16, and the cantonment in 2026, with the July acreage figures to demonstrate the scale.
Fort McCoy’s motto beginning in 2026 is “Training the Total Force and Shaping the Future since 1909.” The installation’s mission: “Fort McCoy strengthens Total Force Readiness by serving as a training center, Mobilization Force Generation Installation, and Strategic Support Area enabling warfighter lethality to deploy, fight, and win our nation’s wars.”
And Fort McCoy’s vision is, “To be the premier training center supporting the most capable, combat-ready, and lethal armed forces.”
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin. The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online athttps://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, and on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy.” Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”
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