CORRECTION: In a previous version of this article, the alumni association’s plans to copyright the “From the Forest” brand was misstated. The alumni association is looking to trademark the brand. The Daily Orange regrets this error. 

Not only is the pure maple syrup made by SUNY-ESF staff at Heiberg Memorial Forest in Tully, N.Y., better quality than most syrup found in a grocery store, it also helps fund students’ tuition.

A portion of the proceeds from the maple syrup, along with all of the products for sale in the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry’s new College Book Store, contribute to a scholarship fund, said Debbie Caviness, assistant to the director for the ESF Alumni Association. The bookstore opened in late March.

Prior to the opening of the bookstore, the proceeds from the syrup sold by the forest properties office were not dedicated to scholarships, Caviness said. Last year, the bookstore began to sell the syrup in its old location in Marshall Hall.

One of the main reasons ESF’s maple syrup tastes better than most available in stores is because it’s made purely from maple trees in the Heiberg Forest, said Robert Davis, director of forest properties at ESF.

Flavors such as light amber, medium amber and dark amber all have distinct tastes, Davis said. Many brands of syrup advertised to be pure maple syrup at grocery stores are really just a mixture of different flavored syrups from a variety of places, he said.

“It’s almost like buying a good wine versus buying a cheap wine,” Davis said.

A new class offered at ESF is helping to create a financial plan for the production of the syrup. The class is determining not just the sustainability of selling syrup, but also the bottled water that is a byproduct of the maple syrup production process.

John Wagner teaches the class, called FOR 333: “Natural Resource Managerial Economics.” He said the students in the class study how to sustainably market a variety of forest products. But this semester, students are focusing on the markets of products that can be sold in the bookstore.

“It’s smart not only on the economic scale, but also in the greater scheme of forest-based ecosystem goods and services as a whole,” said Laurie Raskin, a forest resources management major in the class.

Caviness said the startup costs of selling bottled syrup in the bookstore are high and that shipping the syrup can be expensive. The syrup can be ordered online through the bookstore’s website, she said.

But Caviness said she thinks it will be a beneficial way for the college to raise money for scholarships, especially by targeting alumni.

“It’s going to increase the overall revenue of the store, which will affect the scholarships,” Caviness said. “It’s also a great way for us to get our name out there and get some recognition for the college.”

The alumni association is also looking into trademarking the name “From the Forest” as a brand through which to sell the maple syrup and other products made by ESF’s Department of Forest and Natural Resources Management, Caviness said.

Currently, no students are involved in the actual process of creating the maple syrup, but it is something Mark Appleby, southern forest property manager, said he hopes could be integrated into a class in the future, since syrup production is growing at ESF.

He also said the sugar bush in the forest, which is where the syrup is made, has recently expanded from 10 acres to 20 acres. He said he hopes it can eventually expand to 40 acres.

Said Appleby: “Right now, we are just looking toward the future.”

Published on April 14, 2013 at 11:58 pm

Contact Shannon: smhazlit@syr.edu