Wildfire risk just got a lot worse in California, where some of the state's most effective fire prevention specialists—goats—are under regulatory attack. As of July 1, the state's standard minimum wage and overtime laws now apply to goat-herding companies, whose animals clear brush and reduce fire danger across the state. The change threatens to sideline these vital firefighters at a time when California can ill afford a setback in wildfire prevention.
For decades, California's goat and sheep herders have been largely exempt from the state's wage and overtime rules. This is on account of the round-the-clock lifestyle that herding entails; without such an exemption, labor costs would become prohibitively expensive in the herding occupation.
