Global Warming Not A Sweet Deal for the Maple Industry
A potent combination of warmer temperatures, shorter winters, increasing drought, and the ravages of forest-insect pests threaten to devastate the maple-syrup industry, according to the Portsmouth-based nonprofit Clean Air-Cool Planet in a recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
A potent combination of warmer temperatures, shorter winters, increasing drought, and the ravages of forest-insect pests threaten to devastate the maple-syrup industry, according to the Portsmouth-based nonprofit Clean Air-Cool Planet in a recent testimony before the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.
The organization asserted that if the US doesn’t act to reduce greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, maple tree species are likely to migrate out of New England, destroying an industry that brings more than $100 million annually to the state of Vermont alone. Collectively, tree tappers in New England and New York gather and distill approximately 75% of the maple syrup produced in the United States—a $30 million contribution to the nation’s economy annually.
“Many of these sugaring families in New England have been careful stewards of their maple trees for generations,” said CA-CP executive director Adam Markham. “It’s up to our leaders in Washington to ensure that climate change is halted and New England’s unique maple products continue to grace our family tables.”
New England is coming to the end of what will most likely be its warmest winter on record, with much of the region also in the grip of extreme drought since the end of last summer. CA-CP says more frequent and longer dry periods along with earlier and more unpredictable tapping seasons are a real threat to maple sugar production. Sugar makers are reporting that the tapping season is starting earlier and earlier, and are now regularly tapping as early as mid-February as opposed to mid-March.
“Energy efficiency and alternative fuels such as wind and solar are the real routes to energy security—not drilling in pristine wilderness areas,” Markham told the committee. “If greenhouse gases are not curbed quickly, we may lose the sugar maple and much of New England’s character with it.”
The organization asserted that if the US doesn’t act to reduce greenhouse gases from burning fossil fuels, maple tree species are likely to migrate out of New England, destroying an industry that brings more than $100 million annually to the state of Vermont alone. Collectively, tree tappers in New England and New York gather and distill approximately 75% of the maple syrup produced in the United States—a $30 million contribution to the nation’s economy annually.
“Many of these sugaring families in New England have been careful stewards of their maple trees for generations,” said CA-CP executive director Adam Markham. “It’s up to our leaders in Washington to ensure that climate change is halted and New England’s unique maple products continue to grace our family tables.”
New England is coming to the end of what will most likely be its warmest winter on record, with much of the region also in the grip of extreme drought since the end of last summer. CA-CP says more frequent and longer dry periods along with earlier and more unpredictable tapping seasons are a real threat to maple sugar production. Sugar makers are reporting that the tapping season is starting earlier and earlier, and are now regularly tapping as early as mid-February as opposed to mid-March.
“Energy efficiency and alternative fuels such as wind and solar are the real routes to energy security—not drilling in pristine wilderness areas,” Markham told the committee. “If greenhouse gases are not curbed quickly, we may lose the sugar maple and much of New England’s character with it.”
