Should horse skidding be allowed in Jasper National Park?

That’s the question a Robson Valley man is putting to Parks officials prior to the Firesmart tree removal tendering process.

For the past seven years, Firesmart has excluded log skidding as part of its Firesmart tree removal program. Officials state skidding – which sees logs dragged along the forest floor – does large amounts of damage to vegetation, and they prefer to haul trees out with large wheeled platforms called forwarders.

Ray Thiessen has been working in the forestry industry for 25 years, using heavy horses as part of a logging operation for the past five years while working with Wes Phillips. He disputes Parks claims that skidding is more damaging than using machinery.

He was interested in bidding on the Firesmart contract, removing trees from Whistlers campground. However the tender excludes the use of skidding, which is the type of logging he performs with his team of horses.

“I never asked for special privilege... just to be accepted in a competitive environment,” Thiessen said. “We wanted to compete.”

Thiessen said ground pressure from his horses is similar to that exerted by heavy machinery.

“Machines with large tires exert two pounds per square inch of pressure. Horses exert four pounds per square inch of pressure,” Thiessen said.

Thiessen said he has the equipment to bid on the contract using forwarders, but he believes horses are best suited for the job. He’s used belgians and clydesdales in Mount Robson Provincial park and said his partners have used them with success in Banff National Park. He argues skidding with horses has less of an effect upon the ground than driving large vehicles to the site.

“It’s the best way to go about it,” Thiessen said.

Alan Westhaver, Firesmart program co-ordinator said there is no bias against horses, but Parks wants to avoid skidding trees. Dragging the trees across the ground does a lot of damage to the surrounding soil and vegetation, and he says it leaves large scars in the land.

“For the last eight years, Parks hasn’t let contractors allow the skidding of logs, and we’re not going to change that now.”

Bidding for the Firesmart logging program has been tight, as lots of contractors are looking for work. Westhaver said a number of options were examined when the environmental impact assessment was completed, which had a goal of minimizing the affects of the work on vegetation and soul.

Skidding the trees puts more pressure on the ground and surrounding vegetation, Westhaver said, increasing the amount of compression. That’s why he said parks favours fowarders – machines with large, low pressure tires.

“We don’t have a bias against any forestry practise, but anything that could cause unacceptable impacts, especially to the vegetation and soil, isn’t allowed.

We have high standards, so we don’t want any dragging,” Westhaver said. “We insist the logs be carried.”

The technique has proven successful, Westhaver said, as the JNP has been satisfied with using forwarders. Dragging the trees adds another impact on the ground, he said.

“We’ve found multiple ways of doing the operation within the standards. We’ve just never dragged the logs out.”

According to Westhaver, Parks Canada used horses to build a fireguard on the bench during the 1980s, but Jasper hasn’t used horses or other skidding technology in years. He concedes horses have a smaller carbon footprint than heavy machinery, however he said other techniques lessen the carbon footprint used in the operation. This includes the production of woodchips for the town’s wastewater treatment plant.

Other options to reduce vegetation damage were considered, such as helicopters, but those proved to be cost prohibitive, he said.