Simple question

[Scott G]

Simple question; where are we now and where do we see this effort going?

As we move into mud season it should give us all some time to ponder that question.

[Gabe Ayers]

As some may know already, I am heading to England this Friday 12th and on next Saturday 20th will be a guest at the FETCU annual meeting held in England. Our fellow poster Simon Lenihan has been kind enough to invite me,so I hope to meet many real European horsemen at this meeting. I would be glad to introduce our new group to them and ask for participation. It will be a honor to represent the DAPFI fledgling efforts.

Also I wanted to make a presentation to DAPFI about our DRAFTWOOD program as a system we could all use to gain market share in the green movement. I am afraid that will have to wait until I return. I look forward to sharing that with this group.

The primary reason I am going is to look at Suffolk stud colt prospects in the U.K.

I will let everyone know what happened when I return. Carry on good folks.

Salute,

Jason

~

[Theloggerswife]

Good luck with the colt Suffolk prospect. My neighbor traveled abroad to obtain her current team of brabrant mares. She had them shipped back to the US, and has had great luck with them. They are HUGE chunks of horse flesh!!!

[Rick Alger]

At this time I don’t think there is enough activity/interest/organizational commitment to proceed any further with the plan to contact insurance commissioners with data.

[Scott G]

Given both the applicabilty and number of comments, unfortunately I would have to concur with Rick’s comments, although on a broader scale.

Not sure why this has died. I have a feeling it may be because I had the tendency to wait for more folks to weigh in and be inclusive rather than exclusive. To that end, the fault is my own.

I sensed a unique opportunity with the general passion of the group, coupled with my current ability to give more time to this group than the “full-time horse loggers” could, given my present gov forester job that pays most of the bills.

That said, I have energy and will put that forward to further the general cause. But, as time and lack of involvement goes by I have less of it… My horse logging business takes up all the productive time my gov job doesn’t, and I have a very flexible gov job…

Let’s keep what we have and see what may come of it. I fully understand that it is the few who carry the weight for many but at a minimum, there needs to be discussion among the many that is at least directed towards the cause.

I will continue to pursue and refine the web-based Draft Powered Forestry Contact List, as I have heard from many that it is a valuable resource.

I will also be considering a newsletter in the future, those of you that are interested in this possibility contact me.

Ciao

[Carl Russell]

I would have to agree with this sentiment. I have so many balls in the air, which is the way I have always lived my life, that the amount of time I can give to each is extremely variable.

I think it is easy to get big ideas fast, and that is one of the reasons why these types of effort implode, or more accurately “Seem” like they implode.

I share the sense that the time is appropriate for such a network, and organization, but truthfully we have been living in our own little world here on DAP. It will take some time to reach out to others in the global community. We should just protect this seed, and continue to take the foundational ideas seriously, and over time we can make something happen.

In my mind it is not so much how many, or who can really take the time, but how serious we are, and how hard we hold onto the idea. There are several of us here from divergent regions, and knowing that there is this kernel of an organization will begin to have affect within smaller networks.

So far most of us have not invested too much, so we don’t have a lot to lose, but we can only make it work if we keep thinking about the possibilities.

Thanks Scott, Carl

[Jim Ostergard]

Well, I’m certainly guilty of sitting back and not being very active. Some of it has to do with mud season which is weird since it is a good time to turn the compost piled from the horses all winter, order seeds and all the other great spring activities.
Think some of it is mild depression also. No work and this leads me to not having the energy to go hustle horse jobs or get back to chopping on a skidder crew. That said, age may play a part and it would be nice to hear how any of the other, “old fellows”, handle that. My head mostly says I’m 40 and can still chop 8 hours a day but my 69 year body sure rebells.
I agree as Carl mentioned we have a good seed or kernel in this small group and it will sprout with time. We will have peaks of activity and then slow times when folks get really busy but even that will sprout the plant I think. Just a little water now and then and perhaps the mulch is the slow time between waterings. This is a strong group with many visions and experiences that will bring others in. The newsletter idea will help that flourish.
Jimbojim

[Rick Alger]

Hey Jim,

We are the same decrepid age. I used to do eighty trees a day, now I do eight.

Hey All,

One thought about what direction to take might be localized groups affiliated with the larger group but based on forest type and regional markets.

The group that interests me would be – spruce/fir forest type, Northern New England/southern Quebec region.

[Scott G]

@Rick Alger 16701 wrote:

One thought about what direction to take might be localized groups affiliated with the larger group but based on forest type and regional markets.

The group that interests me would be – spruce/fir forest type, Northern New England/southern Quebec region.

Rick, Have you networked with any horse loggers in Quebec/New Brunswick?

[Scott G]

Jim,
What’s your phone #? I’d like to give you a call.
-Scott

[Rick Alger]

Scott,

I haven’t had any real contact with Canadians, but I know there are some working horses in the “bush.”

I did talk with a guy from northern Maine a couple days ago who was trying to figure out how to park his machines and get back into horse logging.

What we seem to have in common in this region is generally a low value forest resource owned by absentee stockholders who expect quarterly profits.

I’ve heard a timber company forester say that he has been told by corporate headquarters to manage the resource for an 8% return! (I think this dynamic is what Carl was talking about a while back)

So we have got to generate our income from the short term value of the wood that is extracted – or else find other complementary funding sources.

Collaboration, shared technology, specific silvicultural applications like your aspen project, these are things I’d like to discuss within the region.

[Scott G]

Rick,

Here are two contacts that may be of use.

New Brunswick DNR Contact list:
http://app.infoaa.7700.gnb.ca/gnb/pub/ListPersonOrg1.asp?OrgLevel1=01&DeptID1=60&OrgID1=604

and

Quebec:
http://www.mrnf.gouv.qc.ca/english/contact-us/contact-us-forets.jsp

Contacting the office should poiint you in the direction of a registered contractor list or district offices which should be able to give you horse logger contacts.

Might be of some help…

[Scott G]

Rick,
Here are some leads for P.E.I. as well.

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/2007Horselog.pdf

http://www.gov.pe.ca/news/getrelease.php3?number=5589

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/prince-edward-island/story/2009/04/20/pei-horse-logging.html

http://forestindustries.eu/content/horse-loggingpferderückung

[Carl Russell]

I also have a few personal contacts in Quebec, NB, NS, and PEI. I can share those with you.

Carl

[Rick Alger]

Scott, Carl,

Thanks.

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