Highlighting the importance of animals, the newly seated Mayor of Montana city has come up with an innovative idea, "The Goat Experiment." The experiment aimed at removing undesirable native weeds is seen as an alternative to chemicals.

Allyson Adams has deployed nearly 200 goats which had been brought from Conrad to eat weeds that threaten Virginia City's native plants.

Adams, who became mayor this spring, recently told some people at Virginia City's Metropolitan Market. "Next year, we'll probably need 1,000."

Adams said the idea of deploying goats instead of chemicals will remind Virginia City's tourists and residents that Montana is an agricultural state, where animals serve a purpose. However, the chemical use along some roadways will continue, she added.

Several participating landowners are likely to keep the goats busy all summer, said Kim Harris, who owns the animals. He charges $13 for every acre they cover.

Raising confidence in the Mayor's experiment Harris said, "They've really demolished that," as he surveyed a patch of land that used to have a lot of knapweed.

Between Thursday afternoon and Friday afternoon, they chewed their way across 10 acres of city property.

Harris hopes that by summer's end the goats will have made two sweeps on the 650 acres or so where he has been asked to reduce weeds. Of that total, only about 30 acres belong to the city.

Harris said that since his arrival in Virginia City on Thursday, several people asked to have goats on their land.