SOUTH PARIS, Maine — Who, or What Exactly is NRCS? The USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) provides farmers and private landowners with assistance to address natural resource concerns on their land. The NRCS motto is “Helping people help the land,” and to achieve that goal, NRCS works to provide both technical and financial assistance to forest landowners. The process starts with the local NRCS field office. The field office staff is there to listen to your goals, visit your forest, and guide you through the process of working with the agency. There are a number of great resources out there that can help you figure out how to work with NRCS, but the first step is to stop by your local field office and talk with your district conservationist (find your local office and contact here).
The What & Why for Maple Syrup Producers
NRCS assistance can take many different forms across an operation, from helping plan and manage your sugarbush, to upgrading your sugarhouse to be more efficient. Starting in the forest, assistance usually begins with an NRCS forest management plan, or FMP for short. An FMP is an extremely useful document that provides a comprehensive summary of your forest land (different forest types, species present, quantity of trees, etc.) as well as recommendations on future management activities to help address resource concerns, meet your land objectives, and improve the overall health and vigor of your forest. NRCS can provide a list of licensed foresters approved to write an FMP as well as an outline for what is required in the plan. The agency can also provide financial assistance for a considerable amount of the plan cost. If you already have a plan through a different avenue, don’t worry! NRCS can help fit that plan to NRCS standards. In addition to an FMP, NRCS can also help with planning the actual activities. NRCS calls them “practices” and they’re not only practices for general forestry management like thinning, crop tree release, etc., but also a whole bundle of activities specifically meant for sugarbush management like establishing species diversity, reducing soil impacts during management activities (i.e. collecting sap, thinning), and more. These practices are meant to help build a resilient and healthy forest by addressing resource concerns like soil health, erosion, under or over stocking, increasing species diversity, addressing invasive species concerns, and more. As we continue to see increased frequency and intensity of precipitation events and more sporadic winter seasons, thoughtful forest management is becoming even more important to address these uncertainties and make sure Maine forest owners can provide maple syrup for generations to come. Moving over to the sugarhouse now, NRCS can also help with your boiling operation. Through an agricultural energy assessment, NRCS practices can help identify ways to improve your existing setup. This can include items like more energy efficient lighting and improvements to the boiling system with equipment like a reverse osmosis (RO) machine, evaporators, and pre-heaters. From forest management to sugarhouse operations, NRCS has the technical expertise and financial assistance opportunities to help build upon the great conservation and management of our working forests.
But Don’t Just Take Our Word For It
Cornville based Libby Maple run by Jay and Kathryn Libby is a great example of the positive benefits to be seen from collaborations with NRCS. The 150-acre forest with 1,200 taps (hopefully soon to be 1,700) has worked with NRCS through various programs on both forest management and operations efficiency. Currently enrolled in the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), the Libbys are implementing multiple NRCS forestry activities aimed at improving their sugarbush. When asked what they would like to share about their work with NRCS, Jay and Kathryn said: “The biggest help the NRCS has provided to us is the consultation and advice. There are many programs they can help with depending on individual needs and where they are in the development of their sugarbush. The cost share program has helped us with the extra push to thin the sugar bush which is labor intensive and usually provides very little payback in terms of wood produced from the operation. The program also has helped us with energy savings. We were able to replace our old boiler with a highly efficient one that has saved time, fuel, and electricity.”
This is merely a snapshot of the assistance that NRCS has to offer to forest landowners and maple syrup producers. If you would like to learn more, please reach out to your local NRCS office. We don’t bite! But don’t take our word for it. We will close out with a few additional thoughts Jay and Kathryn wanted to share: “The NRCS office in Skowhegan has provided us with opportunities that we had no idea existed to grow our small business. The staff have been a great source of advice and knowledge. NRCS has provided us with the financial help and most of all it’s been people who are willing to help. We are treated with kindness and respect every time we enter the building. We cannot express how grateful we are and sincerely appreciate all of the help that we have been given. We are confident that our business will continue to thrive with the partnership with the NRCS and we are excited to continue to work with them to complete all of the initiatives.”
–Sean Horan, Climate Smart Agriculture & Forestry Professional
USDA NRCS
