Awards for maple syrup are pinned to the wall of the kitchen within the Branon sugarhouse in Fairfield, Vt.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

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Cecile Branon looks at the tapped maple trees just outside the sugarhouse at Branon Family Maple Orchards.
Danielle Parhizkaran/Globe Staff

For Cecile Branon, 68, the innovations have made it possible to imagine passing the operation on to the next generation.

“They already have plans,” she said of her grandchildren.

Maple production in Vermont has climbed to about 3 million gallons annually, with revenue approaching $100 million a year. The state makes more than half the syrup produced in the country. The gains are not just a result of sugar makers tapping more maples. The amount of sap produced per tap — the small spout inserted into a tree — has more than doubled since the start of the century.

Even 20 years ago, the industry’s continued growth was a major question. Maple syrup is a high-stakes crop because the bulk of the season’s product is made on just a handful of sap “runs,” when shifting temperatures create pressure changes that push clear, sweet liquid from the trees. Those perfect conditions typically happen in late winter or early spring, though some producers have found ways to take advantage of sap runs when the weather warms up even earlier.

Emma Marvin, the co-owner of Butternut Mountain Farm in Morrisville, Vt., said the precarious, weather-dependent nature of sugaring means producers have to be good at navigating uncertainty.

“There’s no indication for us what our yield is going to be other than what the weatherman tells us,” Marvin said. “Some of the volatility is baked in, and we’re used to adapting to it.”

Climate change is disrupting the delicate balance of freezing nights and above-freezing days required to trigger sap runs. Temperatures in Vermont, one of the fastest-warming states, have risen by about 3 degrees Fahrenheit since 1900. In 2012, a series of heat waves cut the season short, causing maple trees to “bud out” and ruining the flavor of the sap. Production in New England fell by nearly a third from the year prior.

Extreme weather, exacerbated by climate change, poses another threat. Severe storms can rip down tubing and fell trees. Flooding and drought stress the roots of sugar maples, a “Goldilocks” tree that doesn’t like to be too wet or dry.

Cecile Branon, a fourth-generation sugar maker in Fairfield, has seen these changes firsthand. The Branons are one of Vermont’s best-known maple families and manage a sugaring operation that surpassed 100,000 taps this year, a point of pride. Blue ribbons decorate a wall in the sugarhouse, including a hefty rosette for “best of show” at the Vermont Maple Festival.

After digging through more than two decades of her husband’s daily notes logging the work done on the land, Cecile Branon found that the start of the sugaring season has been steadily creeping earlier, changing by as much as a week some years.

“You could see it right in his book,” she said.

The two major innovations the Branons have adopted — vacuum tubing systems and reverse osmosis machines — are now widespread across the industry. Both technologies directly combat how climate change stresses maples.

The tubing sucks sap from the trees, increasing yields from unpredictable sap runs. Reverse osmosis machines, similar to those used in desalination plants, remove much of the water from sap to create a sugary liquid that boils into syrup more quickly. The machines keep production profitable even when sugar levels drop due to climate disruptions.

Other sugar makers are adjusting their forest management practices, reinforcing culverts and other infrastructure to withstand extreme weather, and embracing red maples, a resilient species long overlooked by maple producers. Producers have also started to tap trees earlier, so as not to miss out on a significant share of the season.

“The folks who are going to thrive are the ones who are able to make adjustments and don’t just rely on the way things have always been,” said Mark Isselhardt, University of Vermont Extension’s maple specialist.

At the Baird Farm in the foothills of the Green Mountains, Bob Baird had long assumed he’d be the last in his family to produce syrup on the land. But by keeping up with the latest practices, he and his wife, Bonnie, made it possible for their daughter Jenna Baird and her partner, Jacob Powsner, to take over.

“It’s not even a question,” Powsner said. “Either adapt, or you lose a huge amount of ability to compete in the modern marketplace.”

Jenna Baird and Powsner have made these changes part of their branding. Their maple jugs show blue tubing threading through the woods and a solar panel on top of their shed. On a tote bag emblazoned “Syrup Daddy,” Bob Baird flashes a toothy grin with tubing looped over his arm.

The marketing is paying off. Bob Baird said that when he recently visited the nearest city — Rutland, population 15,500 — a man recognized him and said his girlfriend wouldn’t believe he had met Baird in person.

Despite the progress, many questions remain about the industry’s future. At the University of Vermont’s Proctor Maple Research Center, scientists are trying to fill the research gaps. They’ve tricked out a tree with monitoring devices to better understand how maples are faring, and are assessing how vacuum pumps affect tree health over time.

“There’s unfortunately very little research specific to maple,” said Tim Rademacher, a German plant biologist who runs the center. “That explains partly why somebody who grew up in a country without maples can still make a career in it.”

The center works closely with producers, meaning a paper published one year might affect the practices of sugar makers the next.

Maple producers continue to worry about whether Vermont will continue to have suitable growing conditions. One 2019 paper predicted that the region of maximum sap flow would shift north by about 250 miles by 2100. Some researchers, though, challenge those findings and say they do not mean maples will disappear from Vermont. Predictions of the industry’s demise have been overstated for decades, they added.

Allison Hope, executive director of the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers’ Association, said maple producers have to be “eternal optimists.” The technology can only go so far when the weather doesn’t cooperate.

“They’ve mitigated the effects of climate change up till now,” she said, but “what’s that next thing? Have we taken it as far as we can?”

That future felt far off this March at the Branon sugarhouse, where the sugaring season was in full swing. The air was steamy and thick with the smell of boiling sap. One of Tom and Cecile’s sons manned the equipment, while Cecile Branon whipped up a fresh batch of maple granola.

She nodded toward her 5-year-old granddaughter Elsie, who was racing past the tanks and coils of tubing dressed in pink sweatpants and a sequined dress.

“Those trees,” she said, “need to be there for them.”

Kate Selig can be reached at kate.selig@globe.com. Follow her on X @kate_selig.

NORTHWEST VERMONT– The cost of Vermont’s seemingly yearly flooding is adding up quickly, but work is underway by organizations throughout the state to slow the effects. 

Following historic flooding in 2023, Montpelier swiftly passed Act 121, otherwise known as the Flood Safety Act. The sweeping bill aims to guide communities in regulating river corridors and lays out a plan for implementing stricter regulations around development near rivers. 

The implementation of the bill and its mandates are quickly proving their need as the Federal Emergency Management Agency is going through major reforms, and off the back of the federal government’s two-time rejection of FEMA help this year to towns in the Northeast Kingdom hit by flooding again last year – legislators are now considering using state dollars to help out. 

Baked in the bill is a requirement for the state and local organizations to offer education and outreach around the bill and its requirements, Franklin County had its turn last Thursday. 

What is the Flood Safety Act?

While Franklin County itself faced minimal impacts from flooding over the past few years, Act 121 takes a whole state approach toward flood safety. 

“Often the most successful flood mitigation, risk mitigation efforts are those that are taken at a watershed-wide scale,” said Alison Spasyk, a flood resilience educator with the Lake Champlain Sea Grant. “Becuase a lot of what this act does is take a state-wide approach to flood hazard regulations also in effect takes a watershed wide approach so that all towns upstream and downstream of the same river system are doing similar things to make their residents safe.” 

Really, it means folks at the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation are working on mapping river corridors – areas on either side of the river where the channel is expected to adjust over time – in order to make changes to minimize erosion damage in the future. 

The rules around development are yet to be written up, but the act aims to regulate development in river corridors, strengthen dam safety and oversight and increase floodwater storage in wetlands. 

Actual administration of the new rules is expected to begin in 2028. 

Many of the rules being put in place stem from generations of Vermonters altering streams. Old practices of straightening waterways or removing flood plains have created growing issues in the state. 

“After looking back at our historic approach, what we see is these efforts have not worked and in fact made problems worse,” said Shayne Jaquith, watershed restoration program manager at The Nature Conservancy. 

Those practices created a long-term effect of erosion style flooding. Erosion wears away at the land undermining areas next to rivers and streams. That style of flooding often leads to damaged roads, bridges, culverts and other river side infrastructure. 

Around 75% of the monetary flood damage in the state is caused by fluvial erosion. The 2023 flooding, for example, cost Vermont around $620 million in damages. 

“We know that floods cost our state a lot of money, especially these really large ones,” Spasyk said. 

Small floods also add up quickly for Vermont’s many small municipalities and are more frequent, Spasyk said, with somewhere in the state being impacted almost every one-to-two years. Vermont’s average annual public flood damage costs are $30 million, according to an analysis of damage from 2008-2021. 

“It might be quite a small regional scale, but it’s still very impactful for those communities,” she said. “We know that flooding is the most common and costly recurring hazard in Vermont.” 

Over the next few years, DEC will continue to work out the details of the river corridor maps with extra emphasis on the areas in villages and downtowns where infill development can be safe and where to avoid. 

Organizations already putting in the effort

Statewide presenters were joined last Thursday by regional organizations including the Missisquoi River Basin Association, Northwest Regional Planning Commission and the Franklin County Natural Resources Conservation District. 

Each organization gave a small presentation on the work they’re doing already to help mitigate flood risks. 

Starting first with the MRBA, Ellen Fox, a project manager for the association, said the group took over land in the Jay area and turned the area into a nursery. 

“The goal is to use the land along the river to grow trees bound to populate riparian restoration projects along the river,” Fox said. 

Another large project taken on by MRBA is a dam removal in Newport. The dam was originally used to retain water for putting out fires, but has since breached. 

By tearing down the dam, Fox said, they not only are working to restore aquatic habitat and promote the natural flow of the river, but also removing the threat of dam failure which would impact property and infrastructure downstream. 

On a similar note, FCNRCD community engagement specialist, Orenna Brand, started her presentation off with the district’s recent Trout Dam removal project in Berkshire. 

“There is still some work that remains to be done on this site … it’s already starting to renaturalize,” Brand said. “Some of the benefits are restoring the free flowing conditions of the brook, improving aquatic habitat and connectivity for trout and other fish and wildlife and stabilizing the newly exposed flood plain with native vegetation.” 

Still, FCNRCD is on the case for flood safety in other parts of the county. In Montgomery, Brand said the district has been working with the town on ways to improve flood mitigation in one of the more mountainous municipalities in Franklin County. 

Following stakeholder meetings with residents, work has already begun or is in the initial planning phases. Plan one is fully in motion with floodplain restoration and wetland restoration around the Fuller Bridge Road area. That project is funded and ready to start work this summer. 

“The intended objective is to reduce in-channel velocities, reduce erosion hazards and to install road embankment armoring to protect the road and adjacent infrastructure,” Brand said. 

Finally, NRPC came in at the end to explain how they fit in. 

NRPC takes more of an administrative view than boots on the ground, senior planner Dean Pierce said. 

“You could say the core objective is building resilience,” Pierce said. “A truly resilient community is one that can reduce the loss of life and property, recover more quickly after a disaster strikes and ensure vulnerable populations are fully supported during and after emergencies.”

“We aim to move the region from a state of occasional vulnerability to one of preparation and strategic management,” he continued. 

There are four pillars in flood safety and mitigation taken by NRPC: emergency planning, transportation planning, community planning and water quality planning. 

All four pillars deal with finding vulnerabilities and prioritizing actions which best serve municipalities. Whether that’s supporting towns in recovery after a disaster, drafting flood mitigation bylaws or providing grants as the clean water service provider, Pierce said NRPC works to keep municipalities ready and compliant with all new regulations. 

The new rules from the state alongside local organizations’ attempts to mitigate flooding risks and damages are all working hand-in-hand for one goal of creating a safer Vermont.

Applications are open for volunteers to support the Camp Outright program for young LGBTQ people. The application deadline is midnight April 24, according to a community announcement.

People ages 18-19 are encouraged to apply for the a leadership program, which will see them help guide activities and support campers during the week. This leadership role comes with a stipend of $450. Participants can serve as a camp leader for one summer.

Adult volunteers can fill various roles at Camp Outright. These include cabin counselors, program floaters, kitchen team members, mental health professionals and medical staff. Volunteers will work directly with kids and participate in camp activities. Detailed descriptions of each role are available on the application page at outrightvt.campbrainstaff.com.

Camp volunteer stipends range from $600-$1,000 per week. A fund is available to camp volunteers, providing up to an additional $400, to ensure the camp is accessible to people from any background.

Camp Outright will have two sessions this summer. Required pre-camp training will take place June 30-July 3.

The first camp session is July 3-9; the second will run July 11-17.

This story was created with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.