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Alex Cabrero ReportingToday's snow in the mountains is making the ski resorts giddy; opening day for many is just a couple of weeks away; but one ski resort is already getting ready for summer.
Sundance ski resort in Provo Canyon likes to stay ahead of things. Today, with the guidance of the Division of Natural Resources, unhealthy trees were cleared to make hiking and biking trails safer and to reduce the wildfire danger.
To get trees down fast, a chainsaw is really the only way to go. To get them out of the forest, though, horse power just kind of seems old fashioned.
Sheldon Thompson: "This is my hobby."
Some hobby, all week long, Sheldon Thompson works in his Francis, Utah sawmill. Today though, he and his fast-moving, hard-working Belgian horses weren't stopping for anything as they removed trees at the Sundance ski resort.
Sheldon Thompson: "That's probably a 35-hundred pound tree."
Getting rid of unhealthy trees means less risk of one falling on someone while hiking, also less risk for wildfires.
Sheldon Thompson: "We'll pull that top out and then probably just drag it right down."
Four-wheelers or Bobcats would be no doubt be faster, but the Division of Natural Resources wanted the job to be environmentally friendly.
Steve Campbell, Division of Natural Resources: "They leave less of an impact than machines would."
Another reason the Division of Forestry says these trees have to go is the beetle. Many of them have already been infected, and the only way to keep them from spreading is to get rid of them.
Steve Campbell: "It's a pretty big problem."
It may take longer to get the job done, and the horses might be more finicky than a machine, but as the trees come timbering down, there's nothing like actual horsepower.
Sheldon Thompson: "Good way to spend an afternoon on a Saturday."
In all, Thompson's team will be removing about 80 trees.
