[Scott G]

Damn you’re photogenic! 😀 Nice job, Taylor…

[Scott G]

In my mind, which is strictly natural resource management driven, I am not opposed to extraction of petroleum and other minerals within reason if the environmental risks can be alleviated or well mitigated.

That said, IMO there is no way to completely remove the risk from offshore drilling no matter what technology has been developed. My play on words “oil & water don’t mix” is more than that; because they don’t.

I don’t care how many wells have been sucessfully functioning or not, it only takes one mishap to destroy or severely alter an ecosystem. The Gulf takes enough of a beating with all of the Nitrogen we pour into the Mississippi and other industrial uses. In the case of an oil spill it is not relative it is just wrong. There is no fail safe mechanism to prevent substantial oil contamination and the consequences to great to extract the resource in that fashion. Will it raise oil prices, you bet and bring it on. This perspective comes from someone who use to run 150 g of diesel fuel a day in forestry equipment and still uses a substantial amount of petroleum products. When petroleum prices rise people change habits and tend to conserve as well as regenerating interests in renewable/benign energy technologies.

One of the main reasons we have import/export issues and the loss of locally manufactured or grown goods is cheap transportation. It all comes down to quarterly corporate profits and if it is cheaper to ship something from halfway across the world regardless of social or environmental costs, so be it. That is the reality of the world we live in today and personally I think it sucks.

If/when this stuff makes its way to the few saltwater marshes we have left in the Gulf region it is going to be almost impossible to clean up. Cleaning a sand beach or scrubbing rocks is a helluva lot easier than try to sanitize a marsh, something I have my doubts can even be accomplished.

I use petroleum products and I don’t shun them. I do believe, however, that they should be used to their highest value which isn’t necessarily running the transportation needs of the world. I am a believer in Peak Oil. It is not “when we run out of oil” as most folks believe, it is when demand outstrips supply. That point in time was damn close when the economy collapsed. In my mind, bring it on. The world may temporarily fall apart but at least it might be the knock upside of the head that it is going to take to get certain populations/demographics to think outside of the box. We will never run out of oil, but the stuff we get is not nearly as productive as the wells of the past nor easy to get to. If it was we wouldn’t be going through one mile of water before we even hit a solid surface or mining huge amounts of sand in Canada just to extract a small amount of oil.

People often don’t change their ways/thinking unless it is cost effective or a major crisis affects them. It is just extremely sad that we have to trash an ecosystem to get folks to acknowledge the issues.

[Scott G]

Thanks, Carl! I really appreciate it. Don’t bust a gut getting it done though.

Feeling fortunate, got through the last 3 days with just a few flurries and the ground has dried out some except for the holes and hillsides that are still a couple feet deep in snow. Went to look at a lodgepole sale this past Friday and we were swimming in 3-4′ of snow pack still on that site.

There’s talk about us getting walloped again at the end of the week.

Might turn out to be one of those non-summers we sometimes get. There is a mountain range about 30 miles to the west of me that is called the “Never Summers”. No guessing where that name came from…

[Scott G]

Thanks Jim, hope all is well with you.

We may have to pry for content and I, like you, hope it is because everyone is busy.

I’m still waiting for the snow & mud to end here. It seems as though winter just won’t end. We have received a continuous stream of storms since mid-March. I can’t recall ever having this much snowfall this far into May. The ground needs to do some serious drying before I can get after it with any continuity.

Thanks again,
Scott

[Scott G]

Thanks Missy,

Being someone that has come full circle I can definitely appreciate the mechanical side and everything that comes with it.

The reality is that logging is logging, it is just what means you use to achieve the end and what environmental benefits or degradation are the result of the show.

I actually think many aspiring horse loggers would benefit from working on a mechanical operation for awhile. In order to be a successful horse logger you need to be both experienced/good with horses and logging as well as understand the market and value added processes. Finding that combination of knowledge and experience is very rare.

Being that you are interested and/or using draft power has your husband ever contemplated integrating draft power into his operation?

It is becoming clear that we will be prying for content for the newletter effort. Seems a little odd with the full head of steam we had how it has now dropped off to almost zero.

Thanks again,
Scott

[Scott G]

…not to mention a chainsaw.

[Scott G]

@Matthew 18132 wrote:

but more towards the loggers does mixing the use of machines in your operation constitute cheating?QUOTE]

No…

My personal goal is to use draft animals for what they excel at which is skidding and/or pre-bunching. Driving your pickup/trailer to the job site, using a hydraulic loader, and possibly a forwarder are all realities in this day & age unless you are just logging your or your neighbors ground on a limited basis or cutting only high value material.

If you want both the low-impact benefits of horse logging coupled with productivity to be able to profitably work in the material most of us do; appropriate machine support is a disired situation, not evil…

[Scott G]

I am going to post this on the public DAPFI site as well since response to this point has been N=0.

[Scott G]

Other than some potential harassment the bald won’t cause an issue, except for the trout. Goldens’ on the other hand are much larger and there have been credible reports of them making dinner of small calves and lambs. Goldens’ tend to favor mammals & birds, Balds’ primarily fish. Especially fat ones in stocked ponds….;)

[Scott G]

Getting ready to start working on this. Still looking at the best, least expensive software format/program to initially put this together. Will pull MS Publisher off of my old ‘puter and see if it will run on Win07 unless any of you folks have a better alternative.

Jim O. and Jason you’re still on for being integrally involved with the “editorial & publishing board”. Any others interested in the nuts & bolts who would like to jump in don’t let me hold you back.

All others, this is a call for content. At a minimum, a few paragraphs on your operation and methods. Additional material would be very welcome as well.

One of my favorite aspects of the HLN was the “who’s doin” section. I think that sentiment is shared by many. Speaking of HLN, Gregg I know you are officially “retired” from the newsletter biz but you’re advisory insight would be invaluable.

I refuse to let this effort die…

[Scott G]

I use keepers/drops off of the spider ring on the britchen for ground skidding single. Use bucket straps w/ 2″ rings which come about halfway down the hip. Keeps the lines handy & from getting wrapped/hung up while I’m setting chokers, etc.

Real or imagined, I think it is also an additional enhanced cue by better enabling me to put gentle line pressure on the outside hip for sharp inside turn.

Haven’t used them or seen a need for them off the britchen when driving & riding a rig. Used to use traditional short spreaders off the hames with a center drop on the cross lines when driving the team.

[Scott G]

We got a total of 24″ snow from the past two storm systems we had last weekend and the next one just arrived. We are beyond soil saturation at this point. Getting impatient to get back out into the woods so I can kill some posts…

Pretty good greenup going on in the low-elevation flatlands though. Buds will be breaking in the next couple of weeks down low. Willows have already started.

[Scott G]

@PhilG 17854 wrote:

Can a crack make them limp when they walk?

Yes, if it is new or severe down to the laminae. To avoid a red herring look for other possible causes as well such as a gravel/stone bruise, etc.

[Scott G]

Phil,
Are you a member of CFP? If not you need to be, it costs nothing to join. It is a marketing program for using local Colorado wood http://www.coloradoforestproducts.org/

Currently, ~90% of the wood we use in this State comes from out of State (Lynch & Mackes), or worse yet, from out of Country.

Resources that you have close to Ridgeway are Eric Sorensen who owns Delta Timber and Tim Reader at the CSFS District in Durango. Tim is the utilization & marketing forester for the State and a really good friend.

I am just about finished with a small/cabin office that is portable on skids and will be used at our County community forestry sort yards. It is made of 95% Colorado Wood, all beetle kill. D-logs and framing. The only thing that isn’t from this State is the sheathing and pressure treated deck/platform. When its done I’ll send some pics.

I will proudly be posting CFP logo & interpretive signs on it.

[Scott G]

@near horse 17727 wrote:

Treated 5″ dia. fence post 8ft long = $11 ea picked up at the treatment plant.

…and I get $2.85 stick delivered to the post mill. Just goes to show you how many people take their cut along the way. The post mill for peeling, the treatment plant for treating, and the ag retail store who puts a 40-50% mark up on it. The treatment plant you purchase from Geoff is just charging the current market retail price.

Still, if I cut/haul a 100-125/day that is a pretty good day for hard-bitten consistent horse logging. You have to be in the right timber with the right stocking level to make it work though. Also, the ability to get a minimum of 2-3 posts/stem is critical to making the numbers work.

I really enjoy cutting post & poles on a great site. Perfect one horse, low tech, low overhead operation where I can haul my own volume to the mill on my flat bed truck or gooseneck. Good straight lodgepole just looks like it needs to be used. Anybody remember Lil’ Abner and the shmoos? Just like shmoos live/love to be eaten, lodgepole lives/loves to be cut and turned into a post…

[Author]

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