04/30/2026
We're back at Whaelghinbran Forest, with a special project. We're working with Chase Hornbrook from Hornbrook Equine Forestry to improve this forest’s resilience to climate change.
In a common story across Wabanaki’k, the land was once a farm field that likely went fallow shortly after the second world war. It regenerated naturally, with low species diversity, mostly White Spruce and White Pine. Without a variety of species and ages, the forest is more likely to struggle with climate-related disturbances like increased pests, disease, drought, and fires.
This harvest is just another step in a long history of careful tending completed by the previous stewards and Community Forests staff.
What are our goals with this harvest? 🎯
👉 Stable Carbon Storage. By removing trees with poor vigour, we ensure the remaining forest stays strong and continues to pull carbon out of the atmosphere.
👉 Making Room to Grow. We’re thinning the canopy to give sunlight and space on the forest floor, supporting the regeneration of native, long-lived, climate-resilient species like Red Maple, White Pine, and Red Spruce.
👉 Boosting Biodiversity. We have left "wildlife trees" standing to provide habitat, and eventually fall and add to the coarse woody debris on the forest floor. A mix of different tree species, ages, and structures that includes increased coarse woody debris and standing dead trees means a greater variety of habitats for animals, birds, fungi, and insects.
Why are we using a horse logging contractor? 🐴
👉 Reduced soil and noise disturbance in sensitive seasons. We completed this harvesting during late winter and early spring, just before bird breeding season really kicks off. This is the time when migratory bird species return to our forests looking to build nests and secure mates. This is also when soils are most vulnerable to compaction and rutting, so using horses in the right conditions prevents excessive machinery noise and widespread soil compaction.
👉 Horse logging requires manual felling and delimbing of the trees, allowing for a more attentive harvest. Chase is a certified arborist and brings his experience to help navigate hazardous tree removal around infrastructure like our cabins and the public road that bisects the farm.
👉 A more community-centered process that supports the local economy. Many of the logs were sawn into timbers on site for a local project. The remaining logs were sold to a regional sawmill that produces construction lumber, which means that all products leaving the site were destined for secure, long-term carbon storage in forest products. This meant a balancing of carbon storage between in-forest deadwood, soils, and living trees, and forest products.
In the pictures you can see our Forest Technician, Michelle, marking the trees Chase will be logging. This has been a learning experience for us and we can't wait to share more updates.
