In this week's edition of The Environment Report, the GLRC takes a look at why some in forestry are choosing to go back to the future. Ann Murray reports:

Some forest owners are going back to past practices to do less damage to their land. Commercial horse logging is finding a viable niche in woodlands around the country.

She visits a logging operation in Pennsylvania and talks with the operators. She notes that

(t)he surprisingly agile Belgians step around chopped wood and low bushes. The horse-drawn cart and log make a trail through the woods that's barely six feet wide. There aren't any visible ruts.

Troy Firth, who's on site, says that's one reason he prefers horses over heavy mechanized skidders. He motions toward another skid road in the forest just a few feet away.

"We have a skid road that was used by a rubber tired log skidder on a previous logging job and the tracks are still here from 30 years ago."

The related photo at right was posted by Absolute Michigan's farlane this past March. He writes:

That's Jesse LaCross hitching the team to a log. We decided to go with horse-based logging after seeing what amazing damage the mechanized skidder logging did to our neighbor's woods

Click the photo to read the rest of the story.

Read or listen to HORSES BRING LOGGING BACK TO THE FUTURE by The Environment Report