Horse logging/Pferderückung

'There's no impact on the forest. This little trail, in the summer you won't even know it was here."'— Kevin Taylor

Just last year, Kevin Taylor's horses Morgan and Minnie were the only ones working Crown land on the Island, but they were joined by three more this year. They are taking advantage of an offer by the province: use horses, and you can take old and damaged trees off Crown land for free.

Taylor spends his spare time in a woodlot near the eastern P.E.I. community of Dundas From November to the end of June.

"Well, we have the horses," Taylor told CBC News last week, "and all we heat our house with is wood."

Taylor expects he'll get 20 cords this year, enough to heat his home and the homes of three family members, all for about $1,000 in costs.

The province has made the offer because the work needs to be done, and logging with horses causes minimal damage to the forest. Taylor thinks all provincial forests should be logged this way.

"It would be ideal. There's no impact on the forest," he said.

"This little trail, in the summer you won't even know it was here."

Provincial forest supervisor Reg Conohan agrees horse logging is particularly good in smaller woodlots.

"Certainly, the damage that is done through a forest operation conducted with horses is a lot less significant than what you do with heavy machinery," he said.

Two more horse teams have joined Taylor working provincial woodlots in the eastern part of the province this year, and another in the west. The province and some heavy horse owners are hoping private woodlot owners will pick up on the idea.