Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 44
Over the long term, however, say Rutledge
and company, a healthier forest can sustain
more frequent gentle harvests and actually
return more money to the landowner.
Rutlege says. It’s a job-creation tool.
Generally, loggers give private landowners an
agreed-upon cut of the gross sales value of logs harvested from a particular tract. And (again, in general),
because of labor costs, horse loggers have to keep a
greater percentage of the overall sale to make money,
meaning the landowner ends up with less if s/he hires
a horse logger.
“Ends up with less” though, is again entirely a
matter of perspective. Yes, the owner will probably
end up with a smaller check right now. But if the
horse logger is trained in the principles of restorative
forestry, the owner will also end up with a healthier
forest rather than a heavily harvested, degraded forest, or worse, a muddy tract of stumps. (Because of
the high overhead associated with transporting and
operating mechanized logging equipment, to
“cheaply” and “efficiently” harvest a woodlot, conventional logging usually involves a far more intensive harvest to maximize short-term income).
Over the long-term, however, say Rutledge and
company, a healthier forest can sustain more frequent
gentle harvests and actually return more money to
the landowner.
Ben Harris, owner of Sinking Creek Horse
Logging in Roanoke, Va., compares the trees in a
forest to stocks. You could cash them all in now. Or
you could harvest a few, chosen to allow promising
44 | BlueRidgeCountry.com
young trees to thrive and appreciate rapidly, and keep
coming back every so often, taking a few draws down
here and there as the entire forest portfolio expands.
One final economic argument advanced by
Rutledge involves the ecological services provided by
healthy forests: carbon sequestration, watershed protection, biodiversity preservation, etc. These are
quantifiable, but excluded from our present system.
The sawmill’s prices don’t reflect the economic value
of the forest that’s (maybe) left behind once the harvest is over.
If that were the case, Rutledge says, horse logging
would be a no-brainer everywhere. He hopes –
expects even – that the day is near at hand. But it’s
not here yet.
Still, interest in horse-powered, restorative forestry is growing, up “1,000 percent” over the past
decade or so, in Rutledge’s estimation. Harris keeps
himself and an employee busy with full-time logging
work within a 70-mile radius of his home in Roanoke,
and the eye-catching spectacle of a team of horses
dragging logs around is great marketing to the neighbors, pretty much selling itself, he says.
http://BlueRidgeCountry.com
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013
Cover
Contents
Letters
Digital Help Guide
From the Editor
From the Farm
Our Readers Know
The Hike
Mountain Report
Creature Feature
Events & Festivals
Great Buys
Country Roads
Worth a Click
Leaves, Laughs and Luxury: 25 Great Excursions for Fall
DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Ballooning in the Blue Ridge
Fall Photoessay: The Greatest Hits Collection
Trout’s Eye View: Photo
Horse-Powered Logging: A Once and Future Past
Tracking Down the Family Past in the Great Smoky Mountains
Bridge of Beauty
The Last Mountain Man?
Flavors
Cabin in the Woods: Living Like a Wrangler at Clear Creek Ranch
Mountain Garden
Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Intro
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover2
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Contents
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 4
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 5
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Letters
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Digital Help Guide
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - From the Editor
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 9
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - From the Farm
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 11
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Our Readers Know
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 13
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - The Hike
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 15
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Mountain Report
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Creature Feature
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Events & Festivals
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 19
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Great Buys
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Country Roads
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Worth a Click
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 23
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 24
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Leaves, Laughs and Luxury: 25 Great Excursions for Fall
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 26
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 27
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 28
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 29
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 30
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 31
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 32
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 33
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DIGITAL EXCLUSIVE: Ballooning in the Blue Ridge
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE2
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE3
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE4
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE5
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE6
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE7
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE8
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE9
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE10
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE11
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE12
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE13
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - DE14
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Fall Photoessay: The Greatest Hits Collection
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 35
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 36
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 37
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Trout’s Eye View: Photo
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 39
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Horse-Powered Logging: A Once and Future Past
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 41
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 42
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 43
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 44
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 45
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Tracking Down the Family Past in the Great Smoky Mountains
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 47
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 48
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 49
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Bridge of Beauty
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 51
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - The Last Mountain Man?
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 53
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 54
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 55
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 56
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Flavors
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 58
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cabin in the Woods: Living Like a Wrangler at Clear Creek Ranch
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 60
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 61
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Mountain Garden
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 63
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 64
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - 65
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Guest Column
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover3
Blue Ridge Country - September/October 2013 - Cover4
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