An online course to help maple producers and foresters manage sugarbushes with resilience in mind to sustain maple production capacity into the future.

The Resilient Sugarbush Management Micro-Credential is a new training from University of Maine Cooperative Extension, the UMaine School of Forest Resources, and University of Vermont Extension. The online course teaches maple producers about maple health, identifying risks, and applying science-based approaches to long-term sugarbush management. Enroll in Level 1 and be ready to join Level 2 this fall.

Level 1 (fully asynchronous, self-paced), participants will:

Level 2 is a five-week synchronous (Zoom) course led by the sugarbush faculty team and with the first webinar starting September 9. Each week, participants will review readings and videos on Brightspace before joining a live Zoom session from 6:00 to 7/7:30 p.m. During the interactive sessions, participants will engage with instructors and peers, learn new assessment and planning tools, and develop a strategy for conducting a robust assessment of their sugarbush.

Level 2 (self-paced modules plus live webinars) on:

Level 1 is available now and costs $25 during the program's inaugural year, with fees subsidized through USDA ACER grant funding. 

If you have already completed Level 1, you will be automatically enrolled in Level 2. If you have not yet completed Level 1, now is the time to finish it so you can join the upcoming Level 2 cohort. The cost of Level 2 is fully covered through grant funding.

Level 1 provides 9 Category-1 SAF CFE credits. Level 2 SAF CFE credits are pending. Each level awards one of three badges that count toward the Resilient Sugarbush Management Micro-Credential.

Watch a tour of Pratt Wildlife Refuge, a demonstration forest, of Audubon Vermont's Healthy Forest Project. in this latest episode of Across the Fence. Learn how forest management practices to support forest health, bird habitat, biodiversity, and trail accessibility.

Hear from Audubon Vermont's Senior Forest Program Manager Steve Hagenbuch's Senior Forest Program Associate Tim Duclos, UVM Extension Forestry's Assistant Professor of Forestry Ali Kosiba, and Vermont Land Trust's Forester Caitlin Cusack.

Resources Mentioned in Video

Visit Pratt Refuge

Forest Biodiversity | The University of Vermont

Forest Landowner Assistance in Vermont

UVM Extension Forestry has released a new guide offering simple, actionable ways Vermont landowners can support forest biodiversity. Biodiversity — short for biological diversity — is the variety of life on Earth. It includes everything from microscopic fungi in the soil to trees, birds, insects, mammals, and the ecosystems they form.

The guide highlights practical actions how to support forest biodiversity including:

Illustrations by Carmen McFadden (@propheticnewt on Instagram) UVM Alum 26'. 

UVM Extension is working with the U.S. Forest Service and the Forest Stewards Guild to host a field tour of the Telephone Gap project area in Blue Ridge South.

Participants will examine marked silvicultural prescriptions and engage in discussions on approaches intended to foster old-growth like characteristics, climate adaptation, and other natural resource goals. 

This event offers 4 Category-1 SAF CFE credits. Certificates will be distributed at the end of the event. 

The event is currently at capacity (20 participants). Individuals may still register to be placed on the waitlist and will be notified if openings become available.

New research co-authored by UVM's Tim Rademacher challenges the assumption that warming temperatures will simply push mountain forests upslope. Using data from more than 121,000 trees, researchers found that tree water-use and drought-tolerance traits help explain why some species are shifting uphill while others are expanding downslope. Understanding the shift in species up and downslope can help inform predictions on future forest species composition.

140 Kennedy Drive

South Burlington, VT 05403

Phone: (802) 656-7631

E-mail: cliazos@uvm.edu

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