Many individuals play important roles in forest management, yet they are mostly unseen by the nature of their work. With a career as a horse-logger and then log truck driver, Ray Blystone of Cambridge Springs is one of them.
Here, Ray and his life partner, Chris Peters, discuss his life and career in the woods.
Ray Blystone began his career as a horse-logger when he was about 40 years old. Working for Troy Firth, Those early days were memorable.
His first job was among the grape vineyards of North East, PA.
"We were cutting huge tulip trees and skidding them down the hill looking out at Lake Erie, and I remember thinking 'I have died and gone to heaven!'" recalls Ray with a laugh. "After that, my next job was by a swamp near Crossingville, and that was... bad," he continues with a smile.
The upside of the Crossingville job, though, was a stray dog hanging around the landing.
Ray remembers sharing his lunch with him on the second day, "and that was that!"
For the next 14 years, "Red Dog" was Ray's loyal companion, camping with him at job sites and napping in the horse trailer.
A sign of someone for whom working with animals comes naturally, Ray rattles off a list of his teams over the years - Dick & Tom (Belgians), Deck & Ator (Percherons), Billy & Brutus (Belgians), Mike & Jackie (Percherons), and Mike & Max the Mule.
The latter pair skidded logs at the Foundation for Sustainable Forest's Loving The Land Through Working Forests Conference in 2013, which was attended by famed author, environmental activist and farmer, Wendell Berry.
"Wendell was surprised I was working a mule with a horse," muses Ray. "Mules have more stamina and are stronger, but I don't care for their personality as much. I'd rather work with horses."
According to Ray, working with horses all day is "peaceful. Very, very peaceful." Having always worked alongside a cutter to fell the trees while he skidded them out of the woods, he recalls "once they were done cutting and gone for the day, that was nice."
I find this last comment especially amusing since my husband Pat was Ray's cutter for several years.
As a horse-logger, it often made more sense to stay overnight on the job site during the week, rather than trucking the horses long distances morning and night.
For Ray, this was part of the allure of the job.
"How could you possibly beat living in the woods with two horses and a dog?!" Ray exclaims. "It was awesome."
Ray's love for being in the woods didn't begin at 40. From a very young age, Ray and his family would take walks, hunt, cut firewood, etc.
"My grandfather, James Campbell, was a big influence on me," he recalls. "He also left me my first piece of woods."
Ray also credits his mother, Rebecca, for cultivating his love for the outdoors.
"She loved to take us (Ray and his three siblings) for walks in the woods, pointing out wildlife like newts, toads and frogs to us."
If you are fortunate enough to know Ray, then you likely know how much the peace of the woods means to him.
As a case in point, his life partner Chris quotes Ray's recent declaration while family was visiting to hunt: "I'm going to the woods in New York because nobody yells at me there!"
And, if you know Ray, you are right to imagine that he said this with a huge smile on his face.
Today Ray is following in his mother's footsteps, sharing his love of the outdoors with nieces, nephews and Chris' grandchildren.
Chris recalls how Ray mentored three of her grandchildren through their 6th grade leaf projects.
"Ray took them out and taught them to name each tree by the bark as well as the leaves, and they still remember!" says Chris, proudly.
We are chatting at the couple's home near Cambridge Springs, a log cabin they built themselves.
It began with a thinning job - spruce and pine - near Sandy Lake. Guy Dunkle marked the timber and Ray skidded the logs.
With just a tractor, high lift, and family and friends on hand to help shave the logs, the cabin began to take shape.
Ray describes the process with enthusiasm, "We laid those logs up, turning each one [to alternate the large and small ends as they stacked them], and by the time we got to the top, it was within an inch of being level!"
The logs were green, so the couple lived in the improved basement for four years while the log walls shrunk six inches in height. Once the logs had dried and settled, they continued the build.
The whole project began in 2009. When I ask when it was completed, Ray and Chris quickly declare "It's not!" And laugh.
From where I sit, it is as warm and sound a home as any; it has stunning 44 inch spruce center supports, hickory cabinets, and some natural-edge panel walls adorned with deer and other mounts, antique snowshoes, baskets, etc., and a wrap-around porch.
Through his work, Ray has been involved with the Foundation for Sustainable Forests since the beginning.
Not one for the spotlight, he was a somewhat reluctant ambassador, offering skidding demonstrations at the very first conference and for many more after that.
Ray enjoyed teaching people about the horses, but the year his brother also brought a team he didn't mind taking a back seat.
According to Chris, Ray greeted attendees with a quick "Bernie, you're in!" and hastily drove his team away, leaving his wide-eyed brother to narrate.
About ten years ago, feeling the cold of the winter more sharply than he used to and ready for a change, Ray decided to buy a log truck and give hauling a try.
While it did not compare to being in the woods with Red Dog and his team, many can attest that he was good at it; his prior experience made him an asset at horse-logging landings, and he was able and willing to negotiate tougher access roads.
Ray retired in July, and is not looking back.
After working in other woodlands all those years, he is glad to finally be able to steward his own, starting with a harvest this winter.
He will continue to be in the woods, walking, hunting, and mentoring grandkids, grandnieces and nephews to be as comfortable and skilled as a woodsman as he is.
Here at the Foundation for Sustainable Forests we already miss him, and can only hope that some hard-working young folks will decide to follow in his footsteps with a career in the woods, but they have some very big boots (and hooves) to fill.
Upcoming Events
-- January 10: 20th Anniversary Potluck Gathering, Woodland Lodge, Grand Valley, PA
-- January 19: Virtual 2024 Woods & Water Film Series
-- February 23: In-Person 2024 Woods & Water Film Series
-- May 5: Lynn Firth Wildflower Walk
Click Here for more information on these events.
For more information on programs, initiatives and upcoming events, visit the Foundation For Sustainable Forests website. Click Here to sign up for updates (top of page). Click Here to support their work.
(Reprinted from the Fall/Winter Newsletter from the Foundation For Sustainable Forests. Click Here to sign up for your own copy.)
[Posted: December 12, 2023] PA Environment Digest
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