Green Goats Grazes to Success

When Larry Cihanek decided to retire from his 42-year career at a New York City advertising firm, he had a pastoral vision for retirement: He and his wife, Ann, would buy a rural property north of the city, purchase a few dairy goats, and settle into their new life as goat’s milk cheesemakers. They found the land and got the goats, but before their dream could be fully realized, a former military fort on New York’s Staten Island issued a call for ruminant grazing services that put Larry and Ann on a chèvre-less course that continues to this day.

Fort Wadsworth is part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, and, prior to its closure in 1994, was the longest-garrisoned military installation in the country. “In 2007, they sent 400 emails out to every goat owner within 100 miles to ask if someone, anyone, would bring in goats to clear an overgrown Civil War gun battery,”