The Oklahoma Department of Corrections is enlisting an unlikely group of workers to help restore the grounds around the historic Oklahoma State Penitentiary rodeo arena: 100 goats.
The goats, relocated from ODOC’s goat farm in Lexington, Okla., are being used to clear thick, overgrown brush inside the arena grounds. The area has become difficult and potentially hazardous for crews to enter due to the vegetation's height and density.
“They love brush,” Agri-Services employee Justin Labor said. “Goats are basically a lawnmower with a heartbeat. They’ll eat all day long.”
The project is expected to take about one to two months, depending on the weather, vegetation growth and how quickly the goats work through the arena. The cleanup comes as interest grows in restoring and revitalizing the grounds around the historic rodeo arena.
Beginning in 1940, OSP was home to one of the nation’s most famous prison rodeos and the 'largest behind the walls.' The event drew thousands of spectators to McAlester and earned the nickname “Greatest Show on Dirt.”A total of 62 rodeos were held before an aging arena led to the annual event ending in 2009.
Today, the historic grounds remain an important part of OSP’s story, and clearing the overgrowth is a significant first step toward making the area safer and more accessible.
“It kind of got away from us this season,” OSP Warden Willis Pettit said. “I gave the crews a break and someone suggested getting goats, which I thought was a great idea. And we made it happen.”
The goats offer an effective alternative to sending people into dense, thorny vegetation and they don’t seem to mind.
“The inmates don’t want to go in there. We don’t want to go in there,' ODOC Agri-Services administrator Tyler Dean said. 'So, we’ve had a lot of success with goats in there cleaning it up.”
Beyond the practical benefits, ODOC officials say the unusual project is also providing a welcome boost for incarcerated men and those working at the facility.
“It’ll be a morale booster seeing these goats do their thing,” Pettit added.
As the goats make their way through the overgrowth, ODOC hopes their work will help reveal and reclaim more of the historic grounds surrounding an arena that once welcomed crowds from across the country.
For now, the newest OSP workers have a simple assignment: Eat. And they appear to be very good at their jobs.