A sweet deal
The next time you dig in to a plate of pancakes, consider this: it takes 50 years before a maple tree is ready to tap. So when mature maples in northern Maine come under threat, so do the small- scale syrup producers—also known as sugarmakers—who rely on the forest to make a living.
Maine is the nation’s third-largest pro- ducer of maple syrup, and a full quarter of the state’s syrup production starts in Big Six Forest. Here, sugarmaking is a time-honored tradition, a respectful partnership with nature passed down from parent to child.
Lifelong Mainer Russell Black, who chairs the state’s Maple Sugar Task
Force, has been tapping “sugar bush” for as long as he can remember. “My grandfather bought our farm in 1918,” he says. “My kids are doing it now, and my grandchildren have started helping, too. Five generations—that’s not uncom- mon in this industry.” Unfortunately, says Trust for Public Land project manager Diano Circo, syrup producers like Black are often at odds with other industries. “Many sugarmakers lease their maple stands from landowners who can make more money if they cut down the trees, sell the wood, and turn the property into vacation homes,” Circo explains. “Losing the sugar bush would be
edible conservation big six forest somerset county, maine
difficult, if not impossible, to rebound from,” says Fabien Lariviere, whose family has been harvesting the Big Six for more than a century. “But the big- gest loss would be our way of life.” To help keep families like Lariviere’s and Black’s in business, The Trust for Public Land is working with partners like the U.S. Forest Service to perma- nently safeguard the Big Six with a conservation easement that will keep the forest intact for maple harvesting, wildlife habitat, and recreation. Fund- raising for the easement will continue through 2016; like-minded conservation- ists (and syrup connoisseurs) can learn more at
tpl.org/bigsix.
18 · LAND&PEOPLE · FALL/WINTER 2015
jerry and marcy monkman
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68