Animal Logging Fills Important Timber Harvesting Niche in Alabama

Chris Toms, John Wilhoit, Mark Dubois, John Bliss, and Bob Rummer

Animals once were the standard form of power used to skid logs from the stump to the landing in Alabama and throughout the South. Though high-production mechanized logging systems now dominate much of the forest industry's harvesting practices, animal logging appears to remain a common and effective form of economical and reduced-impact harvesting in certain areas and under certain conditions.

More than two-thirds of Alabama's 22 million acres of forest land is owned by non-industrialized private forest (NIPF) landowners. Almost one-fifth of the NIPF land, or four million acres, is held in tracts smaller than 100 acres, and many of these tracts are characterized by small, mixed pine-hardwood stands and low intensity management. Such conditions offer ideal situations for low-capital, reduced-impact harvesting methods such as animal logging. There are indications that horses and mules have retained a stronger foothold in Alabama's logging industry than previously thought. Until recently, however, little collective knowledge about animal logging operations in Alabama and the South had been assimilated. An AAES study is addressing this deficiency, compiling information that can benefit landowners, consulting foresters, and loggers interested in animal logging as a timber harvesting alternative.

An important step in this ongoing research effort has been to determine the extent to which animal logging is used in Alabama. Through county agents of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System, county foresters of the Alabama Forestry Commission, and loggers, approximately 50 active horse and mule loggers in Alabama have been identified. To learn more about who is logging with animals and where and how are they working, a phone survey was conducted with the loggers themselves. Thirty-three loggers responded to the survey.

Map of Alabama showing counties in which horse and mule logger survey responders are located.

The survey results show that horse and mule loggers are, for the most part, located in the northern half of the state (see map). These hilly and mountainous areas of the state, where oak-hickory and mixed pine-hardwood forests are abundant, are typically held in small tracts by NIPF landowners. Animal loggers generally work in mixed-pine and hardwood stands averaging 20 acres in size, removing both saw timber and pulpwood. However, the study identified animal loggers harvesting timber in forest stands ranging from one acre to several hundred acres in size. Not all loggers work on NIPF lands; the survey identified a few animal loggers working on private industry and public lands.

As might be expected, animal logging is often a family tradition. Eighty-two percent of the animal loggers learned the business from their fathers. Two-thirds of the surveyed loggers are working in the woods with family members including brothers, sons, son-in-laws, cousins, and wives. Furthermore, third and fourth generation animal loggers in Alabama are common.

Most animal logging crews in Alabama are relatively small. Seventy-five percent of the crews consist of three people or less performing felling, skidding, loading, and hauling operations. After trees are felled manually with a chainsaw, animals pull (skid) the logs to a landing (loading area). About half of the animal loggers in Alabama use mules in their operations, while the other loggers use draft horses, specifically Belgians or Percherons. Most animal loggers load the logs with side-loading trucks and then drive the trucks to the mill at the end of the day. The loggers surveyed produced an average of 6,500 tons (approximately 2,600 cords) of wood per year each.

Will there continue to be a demand for animal loggers? The survey results indicate that the demand is strong. Only six of the 33 animal loggers had experienced any downtime in the past year because they didn't have timber to cut. Others added that they are too busy to fill all the requests for timber harvesting jobs from forest owners. Many of the loggers indicated that they are often working for landowners who do not want skidders on their land. This observation, plus the fact that animal loggers typically work on smaller, low-volume tracts where mechanized systems may not be economical, indicates that animal loggers are not competing with mechanized systems, but instead are filling an important niche working in certain types of stands. In this situation, the demand for their services is likely to remain high.

Will there be enough animal loggers in Alabama to meet future demand? The answer to this question is less certain. Two-thirds of the loggers surveyed are 50 years or older, and more than half the survey respondents have at least 20 years of experience. This study found that at least 27 animal loggers have retired in the past five years. As these older, seasoned loggers retire, they may take with them a skill that has been passed down from generation to generation.

This investigation has included other activities besides the logger survey, including field productivity studies and a satellite video conference on horse and mule logging in Alabama that was recently hosted by the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and AU's School of Forestry. These efforts can help preserve and promote a time-honored practice that has a viable role in modern sustainable forest management. Information that is being gathered and disseminated as part of this study can help loggers, landowners, and forest managers understand the benefits and costs of animal logging as an alternative for low-volume timber harvesting applications.