Images of Early Spring

A pile of spiles await the maple syrup season in early March. Warmer than usual weather for much of the month led to a dramatically slower season than usual. 

The "Native American" tree highlights some historic tapping methods of Sugar Maples.  

With a mild winter, there was not a major "ice out" event on the rivers this year.

A sleepy Barred Owl perched near the temporary trailers in mid-March.

 A pair was seen and heard frequently in the area, likely nesting nearby. 

Programs at the Homestead Cabin started on a couple of Saturdays in March with some maple syrup programs. The regular Sunday afternoon season of public Homestead Programs

 runs from May 30 through September 5.   

Measure Your Energy Savings

You may have already seen the excellent film, "Kilowatt Ours," which manages in just under an hour to demonstrate the environmental consequences of traditional energy sources such as coal and nuclear, the benefits of clean-energy sources, and most importantly, specific steps that are being taken by homeowners, business owners, and municipalities to save energy.  From energy-efficient schools and LED stoplights to installation of geothermal, solar water heaters, and CFLs, the film gives real-life examples of people who are not only reducing their use, but saving thousands of dollars (or in the case of businesses and towns, tens of thousands of dollars) in the process. 

One of the latest developments on the Kilowatt Ours website is the "Green Energy Stewardship Program."  It is a worksheet that will help you measure the impact of various energy-saving steps you take.  Check out the website, and start saving!

Web Cam Fun

One of the many benefits of modern technology is that it can get us up close views of animals in the wild without thousands of people tromping up to disturb their natural habitat. A good example earlier this winter is the webcam of Lily the Black Bear near Ely, Minnesota. Thanks to the North American Bear Center, thousands of people all over the world are able to peer into her den as she cares for a single cub somewhere in the wilds of northern Minnesota. You can check it out by clicking here.

Other websites can give you up close looks of birds sitting on their nests. The one featured here features a great view of a Bald Eagle on its nest!  The nest is located in the Norfolk Botanical Gardens in Norfolk, Virginia. Eggs were laid January 31, so there should be eaglets to watch by mid-March!  Enjoy the show!

A Sweet Idea

As winter comes to a close and everything starts to thaw, maple syrup season arrives at Chippewa Nature Center. At the end of February we start tapping sugar maple trees to get ready for school programs and weekend events. In March, groups of school kids learn how to identify maples and head into the Beech-Maple Woods armed with tools of the trade – measuring calipers, brace and bit, hook and spile, bucket and lid. Slowly but surely, more and more taps get put out during the month and the “plink-plink” sound of dripping sap can be heard through the sugarbush.

Tapping trees at Chippewa Nature Center is quite different than at almost all other maple syrup operations. In a commercial setting, producers aim to gather the maximum quantity of sap possible throughout the short season, therefore placing all their taps right away. Our process, however, is aimed squarely at education. It’s more important to us that each school group has a chance to identify and tap a maple tree so kids can experience something they just might remember for a lifetime!

Sap starts flowing when daytime temperatures rise above freezing and nights are cold. Michigan forester Mel Koelling writes on the Michigan Maple Syrup Association website, “Sap flow in maple tree… occurs when a rapid warming trend in early to mid-morning follows a cool (below freezing) night. Thus, the amount of sap produced varies from day to day. Normally, a single tap-hole produces from a quart to a gallon of sap per flow period (from a few hours to a day or more), with a seasonal accumulation of 10 to 12 gallons per tap-hole likely.”

With tapping throughout the season at CNC, it’s rare that we end up with 12 gallons of sap from an individual tap hole. The sap we do collect is gathered and taken to the Sugarhouse, where it takes about 40 gallons of sap to produce one gallon of maple syrup. In spite of our gradual tapping process, we did gather enough sap in 2009 to draw off 15 batches of syrup from our wood-fired evaporator, totaling nearly 41 gallons of pure maple syrup. That’s about 1,640 gallons of sap that was emptied from buckets on trees and hauled to the Sugarhouse!

You're all invited to join us each weekend in March to see CNC’s maple syrup operation in full swing. As we’re still in the process of renovating the Visitor Center we don’t have space to hold a pancake meal and will not have a Maple Syrup Day festival this year. Instead, we’ll offer special programs every Saturday throughout the entire month. The Sugarhouse will also be open from 1:30-4:30pm every Saturday and Sunday in March

Check out our calendar for full descriptions of programs throughout the maple syrup season. You won’t want to miss the following “sweet” programs: Maple Music Matinee (3/6), The Nature of Maple Syrup (3/13), Celebrating Spring in the Sugarbush (3/20), Sunset at the Sugarhouse (3/23 & 3/25), Maple Traditions (3/27) For more information about making maple syrup at home visit the Resources Section of our website or give us a call at 989.631.0830.

Quiet Water Symposium: March 6

The following is a press release from the College of Agricultural Resources at Michigan State University about the upcoming Quiet Water Symposium at MSU on Saturday, March 6. Chippewa Nature Center has exhibited at this wonderful event which promotes the "quiet sports" such as canoeing, kayaking, hiking and much more, but we're not able to make it this year. Especially if you love paddling, it's GREAT event and you just might want to attend! 

Quiet Water Symposium highlights outdoor recreation during ANR Week conference
EAST LANSING, Mich. -- Michigan is rife with lakes, rivers, trails and hills that are waiting for hikers, canoeists, fly fishers, snowshoers and campers. Learn more about these pursuits and the opportunities to enjoy them during the 15th annual Quiet Water Symposium, March 6, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Michigan State University (MSU) Pavilion for Agriculture and Livestock Education.

The symposium, part of Agriculture and Natural Resources (ANR) Week at MSU, offers participants the chance to learn about human-powered outdoor recreation equipment and activities. Other outdoor equipment related to bicycling, snowshoeing, fly fishing, hiking, diving, sailing, camping, canoeing, kayaking and dog sledding as well as hand-crafted outdoor tools will be on display.

The event will feature booths hosted by representatives from outdoor clubs, outfitters, guides and campgrounds. A number of watershed councils, conservation groups and other organizations will also be on hand. Presenters include Cliff Jacobson, an accomplished outdoor guide and author, who will share his wilderness and camping skills, and Gary and Joanie McGuffin, a Canadian couple, who will talk about their ecology-oriented outdoor experiences. Eric Hanson from the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary will offer a presentation on recreational diving.

The admission fee is $8; children under 12 are admitted free. To learn more, visit www.quietwatersymposium.org. For a complete list of ANR Week programs, conferences and educational opportunities, visit www.anrweek.canr.msu.edu or contact program coordinator Megghan Honke at 517-353-3175, ext. 229, or via e-mail at honkemeg@msu.edu.