Tom McCrumm’s woods produce maple sap which he converts to syrup, a process he says “is so simple, that it’s magic”. Each spring water-like sap is drained from his Sugar Maple trees and then excess water is boiled off leaving behind syrup or sugar. This magical process is what brought Tom to Massachusetts and drives his management decisions today from combating invasive species to thinning his woods to public outreach.  

Tom grew up in Pennsylvania and as a kid his family would vacation in the Adirondack Mountains in New York State. There neighbors produced and shared their sweet maple syrup with his family. It was here that Tom developed his love for the syrup by sneaking sips when no one was looking. After college, Tom found himself working on a farm in West Virginia which made maple syrup and introduced him to Agricultural Tourism. Following his heart he came to Massachusetts where he set out to make a living from maple.

Tom found a piece of property he could use for maple in Ashfield, Massachusetts and created his business South Face Farm for Agricultural Tourism. He was fortunate to buy his land in the 1980s from a man who knew the history of the land. Since 1805 maple syrup has been produced on the land with at least 3 different “sugar houses” present on the landscape the most current from the 1950’s still used today. The former landowner showed Tom where these structures, used for processing the maple sap into syrup, originally stood. Since then while exploring his land Tom has found many more signs of sugar houses and camps, thanks to a book entitled “Reading the Forested Landscape” by Tom Wessels. Usually signs of these historic places are downhill from a stand of Sugar or Red Maple trees. The book “explains the normal stuff we see in the woods” Tom says, for example, explaining why trees in old forests are found on mounds that the mounds were a decaying tree no longer seen. Tom comments that, “it’s our history, our past; it’s all out there for our finding.”

Tom is an advocate for healthy forests as a longstanding Keystone Cooperator, formally the Coverts program. In 1988 The Keystone Program started to educate more landowners about state programs and forest management techniques through a peer relationship model. Landowners who are committed to being a Keystone Cooperator agree to share what they learn in a 3 day weekend program with their neighbors, friends, and community members. He used his status as the coordinator of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association to open discussion with colleagues about land management practices. Further through his business he is able to show the general public the value of agriculture and large intact forests.

Tom understands the variation of interests when applying forest management decisions on the landscape.  Because of his maple syrup business and interest, he has chosen to focus management on thinning to ensure Sugar and Red maple regeneration. As he has traveled across the US and Canada visiting other maple syrup productions he has seen positives and negatives to the strategy of increasing maple trees. His management strategy of thinning seeks to balance his objectives of wanting more maple trees while understanding the importance of a diversity of species.  He wants to maintain diversity of the forest to create resiliency from disease and infestation. For a long while Tom’s land and maple stands had been free of invasive species, but that has been changing and he has been finding some creeping into the understory. Since noticing these invasive species he has attended Invasive species workshops to learn more about how to remove them from his property. Species like Garlic Mustard and Japanese Barberry concern Tom because they can shade out Maple tree regeneration and he has cut back or removed many Japanese Barberry bushes within his maple stands.

Now retired from his position as the coordinator of the Massachusetts Maple Producers Association, Tom continues to educate himself and others about the importance of land management and conservation. Tom finds a receptive audience among the people that come to experience maple syrup production leaving them he hopes with an appreciation for agriculture and large continuous forests. Tom has found a way to take from the land and give back to it.  Conserving his land and educating others is something greater perhaps than the sweetness of his maple syrup.

For more information:

South Face Farm: http://www.southfacefarm.com/

The Keystone Program: http://masskeystone.net/ 

Massachusetts Maple Producers Association: http://www.massmaple.org/