Maple syrup usually makes people think about the northeast or Canada, but it can come from our own backyards.
Montana Mapleworks in Missoula already does this with four kinds of local trees, including boxelder and rocky mountain maple trees.
"I use it as a community platform," said David Knudson, who runs that business. "I'm creating a culture and teaching people a new type of foraging."
Knudson says planting syrup-producing trees could even help farmers who want extra income as well as windbreaks.
"Trees could serve multiple purposes,” he said.
Knudson is part of the group that recently got $500,000 in U.S. Department of Agriculture grant funds to help build the industry in our region. That group includes New Mexico State University, Utah State University and Stokes Nature Center in Logan, Utah.
Part of the reason they want to build an industry here is that it’s faltering elsewhere.
“You know with climate change, I think the whole industry’s going to be affected in the near future,” said Youping Sun, an associate professor at Utah State.
A short, warm spring forced Canada to dip into its national syrup reserves last year to make up for a shortfall.
So now, this group of academics and businesses is focused on bringing the industry here.
Part of their goal is to research trees in the region, figuring out which tree species provide the best syrup and the best time to tap them.
They’re providing workshops and working with landowners to research how best to tap trees in the region. Upcoming workshops on tapping trees in the West can be foundhere (they’re only in Utah for the rest of this year).
However, for those who are enthusiastic about tapping trees, make sure you know who owns those trees and you get permission. When he started out, Knudson decided to tap trees near his home in Missoula, and he said, "I tapped the city trees, and so they had a conniption fit a little bit."
So now he seeks out privately-owned trees, and makes sure they're healthy and not over-tapped.
If you’re a Mountain West landowner who wants to participate in this project, you can reach out to researchers Rolston St. Hilaire at rsthilai@nmsu.edu or 575-646-5280 or Youping Sun at youping.sun@usu.edu.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Nevada Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, KUNC in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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