Exotic mountain goats are decimating the fragile alpine landscape of the La Sal Mountains and kicking up barren dust wallows in which nothing can grow. And, as the goats continue to multiply, the problem will only get worse.
They are the West's most savvy water engineers. Here on the Colorado Plateau, ground zero for climate change, we humans have a lot to learn from these furry creatures.
Lynn Chamberlain/Utah Division of Wildlife Resources
High Country News writer Krista Langlois trekked above 11,000 feet in the La Sal Mountains to understand what is at stake with a fast-expanding herd of exotic mountain goats of concern to both the Forest Service and the Grand Canyon Trust.
