| Forest friendly Loggers use horses to take worst trees, leave best |
By Don Del Rosso - Staff
Writer
The Fauquier Citizen
Warrenton, Virginia
March 31, 2005
A roaring chainsaw echoes through the 10-acre stand of
trees.
Sawdust flies from the base of a 20-foot-plus tall tree
at Over the Grass Farm off Rockhill Mill Road between
Marshall and Middleburg.
Chad Vogel cuts off the noisy machine.
He lifts the visor of his orange logger's helmet and
takes a deep breath.
Hands pressed against the severed trunk, Mr. Vogel digs
his boots into loose, rich soil, leans hard against the
tree and tips it over.
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 The Fauquier Citizen
Photo/Chris Moorhead
Chad Vogel and his team typically can harvest 20 to
25 trees per day - far fewer than loggers using heavy
machinery.
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Mr. Vogel, 25, fells three or four more similarly
sized trees, clearing a path to a 3,000-pound log he'd
cut the other day.
He pounds a hook-shaped spike called a "grab"
into the huge log.
Mr. Vogel recently agreed to give a friend some firewood
in exchange for fresh vegetables, he says.
"We're basically scraping by," says Mr.
Rutledge, a 30-year veteran of horse logging. "The
materials we're extracting is of low value. There's a lot
of love in what we're doing."
Long hours. Physically demanding. Skimpy wages.
Hmmm.
Mr. Vogel acknowledges there are easier ways to make a
living.
"I like being outdoors, the physical labor, being
good and tired at the end of the day," he says of
horse logging.
He pauses and smiles.
"I guess I could get that digging ditches. But
there's a pride in the work and satisfaction in knowing
I'm doing something good for the environment."
You may contact Don Del Rosso at 347-5522, extension 240,
or by e-mail at ddelross@citizenet.com
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