Jake Langeslag has an ecology degree, but he couldn’t have predicted his career path.

“I’d never seen myself as a glorified nomadic goat herder, but you never know,” Langeslag said. “Life can take you in different ways.”

His business, Goat Dispatch, started with a personal problem.

“I had just bought a property. It was just super choked with buckthorn, really nasty, thick brush,” Langeslag said. “I was cutting it, I was burning it, I had people come out and try to spray it. I just wasn’t really happy with any of the results.”

He borrowed goats from a friend and was amazed that it worked.

“I just think they’re a fascinating animal. They really do a good job of eating a lot of different types of plants. So they’ll eat the brush, they’ll eat the forbs, they’ll eat the grass,” he said.

And like any successful company, you need good management.

“Herding dog is the best thing that’s ever happened to my company,” Langeslag said. “Her name is Bailey. She totally can bring all 800 goats if I need them at times, and it’s just really cool to watch.”

Goat Dispatch works with city and county governments, tribal communities, state parks, and more.

“My goal with this company is just to find sustainable methods to manage a lot of these plants,” Langeslag said. “Just finding ways to put these animals back on the land because I think we get a lot of benefit from it, and the animals are also much more happy, I believe, by being out on the land and running around parks with their friends.”