We are a Carbon Offset Farm!
It’s official – we are committed to reducing carbon dioxide emissions as a Carbon Offset Farm! What does this mean? It means that we have made a commitment to our forest to maximize the amount of carbon offset our trees can produce. Hi Vue Maples has joined a partnership with fellow landowners in the Cold Hollow Mountains of Vermont to preserve our forest and farm land as a collective whole to reduce and store carbon dioxide emissions (Green House Gases) caused in other parts of the country and world.
We do this by “sequestering” (capturing and storing) greenhouse gases with our trees and crop land. The healthier forest we have – the more carbon is stored. Trees store carbon by photosynthesis – they take carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into carbon based sugars to fuel their tissues.
Stewardship
What’s a healthy forest and why do we qualify? Stewardship – my family has taken care of our farm for generations. Our goal throughout the years has been to create quality maple syrup while taking care of the land.
How we take care of the land
- encouraging as many varieties of trees as possible
- watching for invasive species
- selectively cutting trees for logs and firewood
- maintaining wildlife habitats
Our farm covers 400 plus acres – 200 of which is our maple sugar bush. The remaining 200 consist of fields used for agriculture purpose and multi-use forest. We have created high quality bird habitat in this area to increase our migratory songbird habitat. These steps that began a 100 plus years ago has allowed us to transition to a carbon offset farm with no major changes, just a deep rooted future commitment to keeping our farm as healthy as possible to help the world reach the goal of net zero.
Partnerships
This project was the undertaking of the local conservation group Cold Hollow to Canada (CHC) – who’s goal is to preserve 23,000 acres in the Cold Hollow Mountain Range by 2030. Programs such as carbon offset are some of the ways CHC can help landowners preserve the forested lands in our area. Preserving the Cold Hollow region supports wildlife corridors, critical bird habitat and supports rural communities. The Vermont Land Trust (VLT) has partnered and been instrumental in creating this Carbon Offset Program.
