BOULDER, Colo. – As part of a growing effort to reduce the risk of wildfires in Colorado, cattle are being deployed to eat dry grass that often fuels fast-moving flames.

City officials in Boulder County have partnered with local ranchers to bring herds into at-risk neighborhoods, including areas near Wonderland Lake Park, where 70 cattle grazed 35 acres of land.

Paul Dennison, who is with Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks, told Fox News that cattle grazing began in early June, which brought the grass height down from the three to four feet expected if left unmanaged.

Boulder Fire Rescue’s public information officer, Jamie Barker, said grazing cattle are great for their fire department in both the warmer months and the fall. 

This year’s heavy rainfall has created even more vegetation, which is good for now, but a future concern as it dries out, Barker explained.

In Boulder, the cows spend two weeks grazing 35 acres. (Kennedy Hayes/Fox News)

“I think a lot of people are really excited, because their green is getting greener and growing taller,” said Barker. “But at the end of the day, that green that’s getting greener and growing taller is also going to dry out; and that’s going to pose a risk to some capacity for wildfires.”

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says similar grazing programs are becoming more common across the West, with states like Idaho and Nevada also using livestock to help manage wildfire risk.

Boulder officials said the plan is to move the herd to another at-risk area later this fall.