Low-Tech Solutions

By Melissa August, Harriet Barovick, Daren Fonda, Unmesh Kher, Ellin Martens and Sora Song

RENT-A-GOAT With 3,000 acres in Northern California burning uncontrollably, residents of the West are in need of a new way to mitigate the danger of fire. It could come in the form of a farm animal. Many landowners have resorted to renting power-grazing goats to devour weeds and underbrush, thus improving soil quality and cutting down the risk of devastating brush fires. The nimble animals easily get into rocky, hilly and heavily forested terrain that machines can't navigate. And as a bonus, they'll even leave behind a hearty supply of "fertilizer."