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| 'Friendly forestry' demonstration this weekend |
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2005/10/14
It seems that if you wait long enough, everything seems to come back. Using horses to transport logs out of the woods has an 18th century feel about it, but Jason Rutledge says he's fine with the fact that this activity is called an anachronism.
"We've often been called an anachronism," Rutledge said, "and I've finally come to accept that, because it means that we're out of step with the times. To me that means that we're the future of logging."
Rutledge is a part of Healing Harvest Forest Foundation, which is sponsoring a number of local events to celebrate Biological Woodsmen's Week, from now until Sunday (see accompanying box). The organization aims to return to a more environmentally friendly way to harvest lumber.
"We have a system for selecting trees that involves a list of visible indications of decline, and we select 'Worst First' trees on an individual basis," Rutledge said.
"We practice restorative forestry. If the tree is still sound, we sell it or we try to process it right there on the property. We talk about all sorts of ways of making money out of the forest without cutting it down."
Rutledge said the organization gets its funding from the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund.
"We get our money from people buying 'Friends of the Chesapeake Bay' license plates," he explained.
Rutledge said that the forestry industry is the largest industry in Virginia in terms of employees, the second-largest in terms of income. The aim of the group is to increase the number of "biological woodsmen."
"Harvesting trees in this manner is labor intensive," he said. "It's hand-crafted forestry. We are tree gardeners, not tree farmers."
Trees and us
"Seven out of 10 acres in Fauquier County are forested, and the forest is in the way of development," Rutledge said. "The currently unquantified value of the ecological services that the forests provide is hugely significant. The forest provides shade, cutting cooling costs in the summer, it acts as a filtration system for water.
"In fact, it has the greatest influence on the quality of the water in an area. The most valuable product to come out of the forest is the water, not the trees.
"As we learn more about how important the forests are to the public good, the demand for sensitive forest management services will increase."
The horses used in horse-logging vary by breed.
"We're dominated by Suffolk horses, but all draft breeds are used, and oxen and mules," Rutledge said. "And we're trying to get mahouts, elephant handlers from Malaysia, to the plantations of pine in the South. There are a number of retired circus elephants in Texas that used to haul logs and, you know, they never forget."
The horse-logging demonstrations and the other activities of this week's celebration are all free. The only paid event is the horse pull at the Warrenton Horse Show Grounds on Sunday.
"We're putting on a friendly horse-pull to demonstrate the power and the skill of the biological woodsmen, the first one in Fauquier County in a long time," Rutledge said.
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| Source:George Rowand |
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