Boy Scout's goats help forest preserve with pesky plants

Looking for a more eco-friendly way to remove invasive species from your property? Bartlett Boy Scout Gavin Burseth says goats are the way to go.

Gavin, 16, showed how goats are the new lawn mowers Wednesday at the Blackwell Forest Preserve Family Campground near Warrenville, where he brought 38 of the creatures to munch on pesky plants, including poison ivy.

The goats came from Thor Goats ECO Lawn Care, a business Gavin and his older brother, Derek, run. Customers can hire the goats to “combat invasive species, poison ivy, woody brush and overgrown areas,” according to a news release.

But there was more to Gavin's project than demonstrating the eating power of goats.

The Life Scout is applying to earn a Hornaday Award medal, an honor recognizing those who have made great conservation efforts.

To be eligible for the medal, Gavin completed three environment-centric projects, with one of them also counting toward his application to become an Eagle Scout.

The Wednesday event was his last project. The goats were charged with removing poison ivy and invasive plants inside a fenced-off area of the campground.

Visitors use a water pump that is in the area, and Gavin said people have been complaining about accidentally stepping in the poison ivy and getting a rash.

The South Elgin High School junior said he'll also be holding an educational program at 4:30 p.m. Saturday at the forest preserve, where he will teach visitors how to identify invasive plants and provide information about how people should be using goats instead of pesticides and herbicides.

“They eat all the invasive plants, but then they produce fertilizer to bring back the native vegetation,” he said.

Gavin said he likes to be around animals and wants to be a veterinarian and own a clinic some day. He also likes helping the environment.

“I always recycle things that need to be recycled ... the Earth has given back to us and it's a way to give back to the Earth,” he said.

Gavin's mother, Cheryl, says her son always strives for success.

“He's a real go-getter,” she said. “He's a high-achiever, he's an honor student, he's in AP classes. If there's homework to be done, he's got it done way in advance. He's just much more mature than a lot of 16-year-olds.”