Forest goes “low tech” to eliminate invasive plants

Invasive plants can turn a grassy habitat for turkeys and quail into an overgrown thicket, so officials with the Mark Twain National Forest have turned to a decidedly low-tech way to manage them — goats.

Brian Davidson, who manages the botany and invasive species program at the forest, told KCUR that plants such as blackberries and kudzu compete for nutrients with grassy habitat, and push out desirable native species.

But removing the invasive plants can be expensive, so the forest has contracted with a southern Missouri couple who own 1,500 Spanish goats.