Established in 1986, Michigan State University’s Upper Peninsula Forestry Innovation Center in Escanaba, Michigan is a hub for all-things forestry research. Recently, a group of GreenStone employees had the opportunity to peek behind the curtain and learn about the important work the center is doing.
The center’s new state-of-the-art sugar shack focuses its research primarily on maple syrup and Christmas trees. The research is performed not only at the zero-waste center in Escanaba, but at forestry sites in Sault St. Marie, Michigan and Chatham, Michigan. The main center in Escanaba has 3,000 tree taps alone – funded fully by donations and grants.
New to the center is a CDL evaporator and reverse osmosis system that will be used for the 2024 season.
Jesse Randall, the center’s director, shared with us that there is a deficit of maple syrup in the world market, and there are several state and federal grants available to producers already in the business or interested in starting. You can read more about grant programs through the USDA here.
Michigan State University is one of the only universities in the country putting resources behind forestry research, putting this facility at the forefront of forestry.
To view the winter 2024 issue of Partners magazine in its entirety, click here.
