Our favorite summer tradition is returning in July! The vegetation-clearing goats will arrive in Issaquah Highlands on July 15 and stay for 20 days. Service areas and time spent in the community will be modified this summer. The IHCA crews and our third-party landscaping vendors will manually service the open spaces not visited by the goats. Your patience is appreciated!
Our beloved goat herder Criag Madsen, owner of Healing Hooves at the Cloverdale Ranch, is retiring after this year. He will be onsite this year with a new goat herder that will hopefully step into his role in Issaquah Highlands in the future.
With hundreds of goats by his side, Craig became a long-standing visitor to our community every summer for the past 17 years. Unfortunately, despite Craig’s efforts to sell his business to the next generation and carry on his mission, efforts have failed to pass the torch.
Craig has a long history as a goat herder in Washington. He utilizes agile goats to navigate steep slopes and uneven terrain, reducing the use of herbicides and mowers. Goats enjoy eating plants that typically irritate humans, such as poison ivy, poison oak and English ivy. In fact, they prefer to eat brush and weeds over grass. This method results in less fuel use, noise and soil disturbance than other machinery.
In 2002, Craig founded Healing Hooves to offer natural vegetation management using brush-clearing goats as an alternative to person-powered machinery. Since then, he has served the entire state and some of Idaho, working with homeowners associations as well as state, county and city municipalities.
Issaquah Highlands Community Association (IHCA) began utilizing herding services 17 years ago to safely manage overgrowth on our critical slopes. Craig says he has watched the community grow and develop over the years. He remembers when parts of Issaquah Highlands were just gravel and Zeek’s Pizza was the only restaurant in town.
Craig has fond memories of connecting with the community through various goat petting zoos and Highlands Day celebrations. If you lived here in 2021, then you might recall the “Great Goat Escape,” when hundreds of goats wandered around the neighborhoods until they were finally corralled in the Bark Park.
Prior to building Healing Hooves LLC, Craig worked for the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) as a range management specialist for 14 years. With over 25 years of experience in this field, Craig developed a keen focus on weed control, vegetation removal and ecological stewardship using goats.
Craig is also a certified educator in holistic management, an approach to land management that recognizes the interconnectedness of all ecosystems. This decision-making framework guides individuals and organizations in managing resources comprehensively.
What happens to Craig’s goats?
Craig has a large farm in Edwall, and he will keep his goats happy and roaming free on his land for his family to enjoy. The herding dogs get to keep working, but they will have more low-key days.
The entire IHCA staff wishes Craig many happy years of retirement. We would like to sincerely thank him for his professionalism and dedication to this community for so many years! When you see him this year, please be sure to say goodbye. Craig and his goats (and pups) will be missed!
Send your favorite photos of the IHCA goats over the years to maddie.c@ihcouncil.org. We will share your photos in our community media.
