Sapwood Farm receives state recognition

If you ever get a chance to purchase or see a bottle of Sapwood Farm maple syrup, you will see a tiny sticker that includes a scarlet tanager, a type of medium-sized songbird.

The scarlet tanager is part of the Audubon New York logo. Audubon is a state office of the National Audubon Society that “protects birds and places they need, today and tomorrow, throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education and on-the-ground conservation,” according to its description.

Recently, Audubon recognized the town of Dryden’s Sapwood Farm as a bird-friendly maple producer, which led to the sticker labels. The farm, located adjacent to Yellow Barn and Hammond Hill state forests, is a small-scale commercial maple operation and mushroom farm that is based in a 100-year old forest.

Sapwood Farm is one of the first six bird-friendly maple producers in New York state. The farm is owned by Sean Carter and his partner, Maria Paone.

According to a release by Audubon, the pilot program that Sapwood was involved in saw them manage their sugarbush — which is the forest area where maple syrup is produced “in ways that provide a more resilient bird habitat.”

“We thought [the program] was a great fit for us,” Carter said.

Carter noted that sugarbush is a “term for a stand of maple trees that we tap for the sap to make into syrup.”

“Sapwood is managing their sugarbush in ways that help these birds raise the next generation of their species,” the release said.

Sapwood has a list of qualifications that make it a bird-friendly sugarbush, including:

• Young trees and shrubs provide cover, food and nesting sites for black-throated blue warbler and wood thrush.
• Snags (dead trees) are left standing to provide nesting sites for woodpeckers and white-breasted nuthatches and insects for scarlet tanagers.
• Downed trees and other woody material are left on the forest floor for birds like the ovenbird and ruffed grouse to take cover, nest and forage.

“New York’s maple syrup producers are busy boiling down the sweet sap of maple trees to make our favorite breakfast condiment,” said Zack Boerman, forest program associate and bird-friendly maple project lead for Audubon New York. “Over the next few months, these same forests will come alive with the songs and bright colors of scarlet tanagers, wood thrushes and black-throated blue warblers. These songbirds, many of which are in serious decline, depend on our forests for insects to feed on, cover from predators and places to conceal a nest.”

Carter and Paone’s property includes 36 acres of land in Dryden and 66 acres in Newfield. Carter and Paone have been “managing the forest for years for wildlife habitat,” Carter said. The couple have owned the land since 2006 and have produced maple syrup since 2014.

“Audubon really gave us focus on the bird aspect [of forest management],” Carter said. “Prior to that, we were managing forests for overall wildlife habitat, quality of water and soil and the health of the trees.”

Carter and Paone have followed a slew of Audubon’s goal-setting guidelines in regard to forest management for birds. One of the goals includes the “control and removal of invasive plants.”

“They displace native plants that the birds rely on for nesting and food sources,” Carter said. “We spend a lot of time pulling out invasive plants. Those plants degrade the habitat, and the birds won’t come.”

Sapwood’s forest management plan has been ongoing for the past 14 years, Carter said.

“It’ll take a good five to six years of management and getting those invasive species under control,” Carter added. “It’s a long-term commitment to managing the property.”

Another one of Audubon’s goals, Carter said, is diversity of tree species.

“You don’t want to go out and start cutting everything that isn’t a maple [tree] just because you want maples,” he said. “Trees become more susceptible when an invasive bug comes around.”

Paone mentioned how “exciting [it is] to see the work being paid off.”

“We’re providing food, cover and a place for nesting sites,” she said. “It’s always about the land and how we can progress the land.”

Carter noted that those who find an interest in forest management, birds and other parts of Sapwood’s operations are “happy to hear we’re managing our forests for birds and wildlife.”

“We’ve become role models, not by choice, but in what we’re doing,” he said. “That’s what it is all about.”

Sapwood Farm sells its maple syrup at the Ithaca Farmers Market on Wednesdays and Saturdays during the summer and the Freeville Farmers Market in the spring.

For more information, go to getsapwood.com.

Dryden Dispatch appears every Wednesday in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Results from villages of Dryden, Freeville elections

Unofficial results from the village of Dryden and Freeville elections became available following Election Day on March 15.

For the village of Dryden, incumbents Deb Fisher and Dan Wakeman, both listed as Democrats, were re-elected to the village’s Board of Trustees. Fisher is also the village’s deputy mayor.

Wakeman received the most votes at 114, while Fisher tallied 104. Republican candidate David S. Bravo-Cullen had a vote count of 42.

The village of Freeville election saw mayor David Fogel and board member Miles McCarty switch roles. McCarty was voted Freeville’s mayor-elect with 27 votes, while Fogel also received 27 votes to join the village’s Board of Trustees.

Diana Radford was re-elected to Freeville’s Board of Trustees with 27 votes. Arthur Marchese garnered 26 votes to be re-elected as the village judge.

Results from each village’s elections become official once absentee ballots have been counted into the total number of votes.

Dryden Senior Citizens slated to meet March 28

The Dryden Senior Citizens’ (DSC) next meeting is slated for 11:45 a.m. March 28 at the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home on Route 13 in Dryden.

Lunch will be served at 12:15 p.m. The lunch menu includes chicken and biscuits, tossed salad, squash and lemon bars. The cost of the meal is $8 for members and $9 for nonmembers.

Diane Pamel, director of the Southworth Library in the village of Dryden, will speak at the meeting.

A yearly DSC membership is $5, and meetings are held on the second and fourth Monday of each month. Those in the area who are 55 years or older are welcome to join.