The Olema Campground laundromat is not a bad place—especially if your washer has been broken for months and you like getting a beautiful walk in before the wash cycle has finished. Occasionally I also meet some interesting strangers. This winter, I struck up a conversation with a young woman named Billie Thibodeau. She told me she was doing a grazing project down the road with her herd of goats and sheep. I instantly wanted to know more. She told me she owns a grazing business and normally works further south, but lately she had been working on a Bolinas property with a large, steep and overgrown ravine.
I asked if I could visit her worksite, and she said sure. She also told me to look at her Instagram page to get an idea of what she does. It did not disappoint! Scrolling through the many pictures of her animals made me excited and grateful that she was going to take the time to meet with me.
A couple of days later, I drove down to Bolinas. Billie met me with warmth, and I gave her some muffins from Bovine Bakery. I asked her if she ate bread, and she laughed and said of course, she comes from a bread baking background. Her great grandfather was Basque and emigrated in the 1880s to California to herd sheep. His son became an orchard keeper, and Billie grew up in the coastal mountains of Northern California.
Holding the leash of a rambunctious border collie, Billie gave me a tour. She pointed out her vintage trailer, where she lives while on the road, and her transport vehicles for moving the herd. The site was a beautiful property with views of the lagoon and the hills beyond. The ravine was like a jungle, except where the grazers had cleared some undergrowth.
Beautiful goats and sheep were sprinkled across the property, white, tan, chocolate and black dots surrounded by green foliage. They were everywhere: eating, climbing, and following each other, a few coming up to her affectionately. She had given them all names: Tangerine, Nutmeg, Picasso, Bob Marley, Garfunkel, Dahlia. She even has an emu named Iris who thinks she is part of the herd. Billie has two breeds of goats, American Alpine and Lamancha, and two breeds of sheep, Shetland and Soay. Both sets have crossbred.
Because I was so enthralled with her commitment to improving the land while loving and caring for so many animals, I told her I wanted to write a story about her. I am not a writer; I am a ceramist and painter, but I wanted to tell her story. She happily supported my idea and answered some questions about how she got started.
Billie began her herd with two Lamancha dairy goats that she got for their raw milk and regenerative gifts. When she learned about research into grazing animals creating closed-loop systems, she felt like she had found her path. “I think it is challenging for humans to feel like they are a contributing member of a landscape,” she said. “My relationship with my herd gives me purpose on the land. We restore balance to the land that it desperately needs. I feel so grateful to be a shepherd. I feel like my life has meaning because of it.”
It took several years for her to develop her business. At first, she created an Airbnb experience called “Goat Walk on the Beach.” Billie has done over 500 goat walks to date. During the walk, she gives a “goat gospel,” in which she shares about natural history, the history of humans and goats, how we co-evolved and how our psychological wellbeing is enhanced by these animals.
These days, she transports her herd to a new project site every month or so. She does what she calls “specialty grazing, where I tackle extreme landscapes with steep ravines or overgrowth and challenging terrain. I love the challenges,” she said. “Right now, my herd is working on a very rugged ravine with an unbelievable overgrowth of Himalayan blackberry and other invasives. The herd is utterly amazing with how they consume, trample and compost all the material in such unreachable places.”
On her Instagram page, she explains how mowers, chainsaws and brush-removal machines offer short-term benefits—and long-term negative impacts. Working with goats and sheep takes a little longer, but the positive benefits in the long term are exponential, she writes. The droppings left by her animals have loads of probiotics, minerals and nutrients for plant roots. Goats eat poison oak without a problem and drinking their milk afterwards might even improve our immunity to the plant.
Billie is one of the most positive people I have ever met. Grazing and raising animals gives her purpose and keeps her strong, even though sometimes there is heartbreak. You can tell she has great love for all her animals, and they for her. Her herd has particularly good manners—never harming people, head butting or ramming, and sleeping by her trailer at night, guarded by her three dogs. I am astonished that she does all that she does and remains so positive and kind.
Billie is looking for an off-season barn for her herd. To learn more about her, email her at [email protected]. Laurie Curtis is an artist living in Point Reyes Station.