About Us
Program Focus
UW–Madison Division of Extension’s Maple Syrup Program works to provide educational resources for woodland owners, farmers, Tribal communities, foresters and other Wisconsinites interested in the economic, culinary and cultural benefits of maple syrup production. The current project is funded through 2024 by a three-year USDA Acer Access and Development grant.
Contact
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Tony Johnson
Maple Syrup Project Manager
Phone: (608) 386-8900 (mobile)
Email: anthony.johnson@wisc.edu
People
UW–Madison Division of Extension principal investigators:
- Tricia Gorby, Project Co-Principal Investigator and UW–Madison Division of Extension Natural Resources Institute Director
- Patrick Robinson, Project Co-Principal Investigator and UW–Madison Division of Extension Associate Dean for Agriculture, Natural Resources, and Community Development
- Chad Cook, Project Co-Principal Investigator and UW–Madison Division of Extension Natural Resources Institute Associate Director of Outreach
Partners
The program also has an advisory group that includes professional resource managers, maple syrup producers, Tribal members, state and local government representatives and maple industry representatives.
(source: https://wisconsinfirstnations.org/map/)
Tribal Acknowledgement
We hope to approach this project in a good way by acknowledging and working toward the following:
- Acknowledging that those who tap trees and make maple syrup in Wisconsin are on lands that hold great historical, spiritual and cultural significance for the tribal nations and indigenous people of this region.
- Recognizing maple sugaring as an indigenous lifeway, reflecting the people’s relationship with the trees and forest as relatives, not resources.
- Understanding that indigenous knowledge of maple sugaring was adapted by European settlers to create the maple syrup industry that now exists in North America.
- Working to build reciprocity in relationships between the Wisconsin Extension Maple Syrup Program and Tribal nations and individuals; to respect indigenous knowledge and to support Tribal maple syrup/sugaring activities.
