Contacts:
Mike Fraysier, Lands Director, (802) 241-3682
Sabina Haskell, (802) 241-1562

Wednesday, June 3, 2009

WATERBURY – The Department of Forests, Parks and Recreation is opening eight sites on state land for sugar making.

Applications are due July 10 for a five-year lease, which can be renewed up to two times for a maximum period of up to fifteen years.

Working with the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, state lands foresters selected sites in the following locations: Groton State Forest in Groton; Elmore State Park in Elmore; Mt. Mansfield State Forest in Stowe; Coolidge State Forest (two sites) in Plymouth; Okemo State Forest in Mount Holly; Putnam State Forest in Grafton; and Quechee State Park in Hartford. Other department lands may become open for sugaring in the future.

“This will allow more maple products to be produced from trees in designated and carefully managed areas of state forests and state parks,” said Mike Fraysier, lands director for the Agency of Natural Resources. “Sugar makers will have access to these sugaring sites and cooperate with the department on long-range and responsible stewardship of these sugar bushes.”

Application information, tapping guidelines and license requirements, and information on the eight new sites are available online at www.vtfpr.org/lands/maplesugaring/MapleSugaring.cfm.

License fees will include a standard $50 one-time administrative fee plus an annual charge based on the number of taps in the sugar bush. The per-tap fee will be 25 percent of the average of the previous year’s price per bulk pound of Vermont fancy grade syrup and Vermont commercial grade syrup.

Sugar makers are encouraged to conduct on-the-ground inspections of these sites this spring prior to submitting an application. Applicants must make arrangements with adjacent private landowners if using private lands to access these sites. These sugaring sites are generally depicted on the maps which are available on the Department’s website, but they have not been flagged or marked on the ground at this time. These sites will be more precisely delineated as a part of developing individual sugaring licenses.

Applications will be reviewed this summer and approved by September. If more than one qualified applicant applies for the same site, the license will be awarded by lottery.