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<\/p>\nFRESNO, Calif. \u2013 Rebecca Ozeran walks through a field of dry grass at an area known as Jensen River Ranch, just outside Fresno\u2019s Woodward Park.<\/p>\n
The grass crunches under each step, and stretches out in acres of golden color. At first glance, this grass looks rooted to the landscape. But Ozeran says it doesn\u2019t belong here.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough they are the dominant species here, it\u2019s because they\u2019ve taken over from native species,\u201d she says of this grass, and other plants that fill this area.<\/p>\n
In the distance, Ozeran spots a plant known as the Yellow Starthistle. Those are known for their bright yellow flowers.<\/p>\n
Ozeran says the plant is also a good pollinator, and honeybees like them. But the honeybees, like the starthistle plant, are also not a native species. The starthistle, in fact, is dangerous to horses.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt actually gives them a neurological disorder that makes them seek it out more and more until they can no longer chew and swallow, and it can be fatal,\u201d Ozeran says.<\/p>\n
Before any of the cities, cars and highways that came to dominate California\u2019s landscape, the vast open land was home to many animals, plants and natural ecosystems. Today, much of the geography has been engineered for human development \u2014 and with it a host of non-native species and insects like those currently covering Jensen River Ranch.<\/p>\n
Ozeran says Fresno County, like much of the state, is highly invaded by non-native species that are choking natural landscapes.<\/p>\n
This summer, she\u2019s been working with members of the Sierra Resource Conservation District on a solution.<\/p>\n
Goats, sheep step in<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Cresencio Rodriguez Delgado <\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
KVPR <\/p>\n
Hundreds of goats and sheep are feeding on invasive grasses found at Jensen River Ranch just north of Fresno as part of a conservation project. <\/p>\n
![\"Sheep](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785973093_303_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Cresencio Rodriguez Delgado <\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
KVPR <\/p>\n
Sheep and goats graze along Jensen River Ranch, just north of Fresno.<\/p>\n
For several weeks, roughly 400 goats and sheep have been eating away much of the grasses that exist on the ranch \u2013 about 200 acres.<\/p>\n
Along with getting rid of non-native plants, the goats and sheep are also lowering dry grass that can turn into wildfire fuel.<\/p>\n
Goats and sheep are resistant to the toxic non-native plants, unlike horses. When they\u2019re done eating through the grass and plants, members of the Sierra Resource Conservation District will invite the public to plant native trees and shrubs that do belong on the land \u2013 plants such as willows, cottonwoods and oaks.<\/p>\n
One recent day, the goats helped show a contrast, and a sign of their progress: a flattened area that had been mostly eaten away to one side, and a \u201cjungle\u201d to the other.<\/p>\n
Ozeran says the goats are helping reveal the true terrain.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see the contours of the land. There\u2019s still some standing grass, but that\u2019s a good thing. We don\u2019t want to completely turn this into a barren dirtscape. That would be just as harmful to it as leaving it alone,\u201d Ozeran says.<\/p>\n
The sheep come from Fowler. Kaleb Thomasis the shepherd who runs the company Ag Land Innovation. He says this is the first time his goats have been used for this kind of project, but they know just what to do.<\/p>\n
Thomas says the goats are strategically moved across the land so they can apply just enough pressure to the soil, and help the native habitat breathe from under the invasive grasses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe tighter pens that you make, the more they\u2019re going to put an impact on that ground,\u201d Thomas says.<\/p>\n
This land sits along the San Joaquin River. It\u2019s known as a riparian habitat, because it\u2019s near a waterway. Because this type of area deals with land and water, small changes to the ecosystems can cause major damage, according to experts.<\/p>\n
Tanner Michaelson, a manager with the conservation district, says the San Joaquin River \u2013 the second longest river in California \u2013 is among the most endangered because of climate and development that has steered natural resources away from it.<\/p>\n
Over time, that has left the surrounding habitat prone to species invasion.<\/p>\n
Habitat invasion is a long-term problem<\/p>\n
Goats, sheep graze along Jensen River Ranch<\/p>\n
Despite the habitat loss, there are still signs of the former ecosystem. That includes trees that produce elderberries.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur Native American communities in this area used to use [the elderberries] for different medicinal purposes,\u201d he says as he pulls them off the tree to feed the goats on a recent day.<\/p>\n
Millions of acres in California are covered with grasses, insects and some animals that have slowly reshaped the land \u2013 causing harm to soil and reducing available food to native wildlife.<\/p>\n
And this disruption is not new. Researchers estimate it\u2019s been happening since at least the 1700s, initially through European settlement but eventually a reality of modern global trade.<\/p>\n
Invaded habitats present a costly problem for the state, which spends billions each year fighting back non-native species through different methods. California is also actively fighting an invasion of golden mussels \u2013 an Asian species \u2013 that are clogging waterways in the state.<\/p>\n
When it comes to fighting invasive species on land, using goats and sheep to graze an invaded area is not a silver bullet, but conservation groups say it\u2019s one very effective tool out of many.<\/p>\n
Michaelson says the riparian habitat at Jensen River Ranch will not automatically go back to its original form. There\u2019s simply been too many changes in the climate, and more are expected.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to be hotter, we know there\u2019s going to be less water availability, and so we may not be able to plant the same plants that were there before,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Plus, the river doesn\u2019t flow as big as it used to, he says, depriving the habitat of natural resources.<\/p>\n
Reconnecting land, people<\/p>\n
![\"Left](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1785973094_280_.jpeg\"\/)
<\/p>\n
Cresencio Rodriguez Delgado <\/p>\n
\/<\/p>\n
KVPR <\/p>\n
Left to right: Rebecca Ozeran, Kaleb Thomas, Jessie Kanter. <\/p>\n
Michaelson says, however, that restoring the land along the San Joaquin River could help native wildlife return where it may otherwise have been absent \u2013 or lost forever.<\/p>\n
He says the conservation efforts underway will hopefully reconnect the land back to itself, but also reconnect people to the natural landscape, too.<\/p>\n
Michaelson says youth who go on trips to conservation areas with his nonprofit are asked what \u201cnature\u201d means to them. The students often cite \u201calmonds, pistachios, and citrus.\u201d<\/p>\n
But those crops are not native to the region, either.<\/p>\n
Michaelson says that\u2019s one of the problems of natural or man-made habitat changes \u2013 people lose a sense of what the land is made for.<\/p>\n
Michaelson says that\u2019s a problem for people but also for the wildlife.<\/p>\n
Across the state, land development has cut off natural food paths for animals such as deer and others.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetween here and the dam, they\u2019re going to have to go through someone\u2019s back yard and go through a gravel mine and go through a bunch of other different types of farms and agricultural purposes,\u201d Michaelson says. \u201cSo how can we try to create corridors for them to have access to the spaces that they need to go?\u201d<\/p>\n
Conservation groups know it\u2019s nearly impossible to imagine what much of the land we see today used to look like \u2013 or to get it to look like it did hundreds of years ago.<\/p>\n
But based on studies and surveys, the groups are able to get as close to the natural habitat as possible.<\/p>\n
Jessie Kanter, Agriculture and Rangeland Program Manager with the Sierra Resource Conservation District, says the current project along Jensen River Ranch is about countering that loss and reintroducing nature back to itself.<\/p>\n
Goats and sheep are one step to get there. But people also play a role.<\/p>\n
Starting in September, on the first Saturday of each month, the public will be invited to plant native vegetation and learn more about conservation. Kanter says this process gives people a sense they can do something about the loss of habitats.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf people feel like they can see what\u2019s happening and be so close to it, maybe they\u2019ll feel like they also have a role in protecting it,\u201d Kanter says.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"FRESNO, Calif. \u2013 Rebecca Ozeran walks through a field of dry grass at an area known as Jensen…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":424925,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[7,1959,169415,112,114,113,113062,10693,138171,169416,2022,169417],"class_list":["post-424924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-fresno","tag-california","tag-conservation","tag-ecosystems","tag-fresno","tag-fresno-headlines","tag-fresno-news","tag-goats","tag-habitat","tag-invasive","tag-jensen-river-ranch","tag-native","tag-non-native"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=424924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/424924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/424925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=424924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=424924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=424924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}