Sustainable Forest

Gallery: Man & FaunaPosted November 11, 2011173 views4 comments

Funks Grove is one of the largest intact tracts of prairie woodlands in Illinois. Sap from the maple trees is collected and processed into maple sirup which is sold and helps to sustain the Grove. A portion of the Grove was declared a National Natural Landmark by the National Parks Dept. The Grove is home to numerous species of plants and animals, some of them rare in the state.

I realized I had posted the wrong photo. Since no comments had been made I deleted it and posted the correct image.

Comments

4 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on November 11, 2011 at 4:29 PM

Interesting, both the less common spelling of syrup, and the process. The tree at the center with three taps should be between 26 and 32 inches in diameter, and is probably over 150 years old. Granted a continuous tapping since about age 40, it would seem on the face of it that tapping did little or no harm to the tree.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Philip Schwarz on November 11, 2011 at 5:41 PM

We don't see many buckets anymore in Wisconsin. It is mainly plastic bags and plastic tubes.

Registered on November 29, 2006, 236 Posts, 1210 Comments

Comment posted by Hank Pennington on November 13, 2011 at 12:06 AM

I really like this comp John. The fact that it's buckets helps me relate from far away, and as someone who has never seen a tap firsthand. I'm afraid if I saw the modern plastic bag and tube process in a photo, I wouldn't have guessed what was going on.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 226 Posts, 1532 Comments

Comment posted by Soubhik Patranabis on November 23, 2011 at 12:37 PM

Nice picture and information John.

Registered on January 25, 2010, 54 Posts, 610 Comments