The annual Randolph Forest Day will be celebrated this year on Saturday, August 5th. The overall theme of this year’s event is maple tapping. But, in addition, there will be a brief ceremony to honor Tom Wagner, who is stepping down after seventeen years as Supervisor of the White Mountain National Forest (WMNF.) During his tenure, the Town and the Forest Service have developed a beneficial partnership and we want to tell Tom that, while we congratulate him on his retirement, we are sorry to see him go.

The Day will begin, as usual, in the Randolph Town Hall at 9 am. Members of the Forest Commission and the Forestry Team will report on new activities which have been carried out on the Forest during the last year. The trail to the Crystal Mine has been completed. The feasibility of identifying an area for “back country skiing” is being examined. A new water management initiative is being started, with partners from Trout Unlimited, NH Fish and Game and Plymouth State University. Some new acres have been added to the Forest in Jefferson.

 

Forestry Team members from LandVest will explain their plans for timber harvesting projects during the winter ahead.
Then there will be progress reports on on-going programs. John Lanier and Brendon Prusik will provide an update on the Dirt-to-Trees-To-Wildlife project. Dave Fuller will speak about the commercial maple tapping project which began to produce Randolph syrup this spring. Steve Robarge, the UNH County Forester who is the State’s specialist on maple tapping activities, will explain and describe the UNH study taking place as a part of the commercial tapping project.
At 10 or 10:30 the Forest Day tour will begin. We will visit a private sugarhouse in Randolph where the process of small-scale sugar maple tapping, collecting and boiling-down will be explained and illustrated. Then we will visit Dave Fuller’s new commercial sugarhouse where he will show how the commercial project differs in size and complexity from a private project. We will be given a tour of the area being tapped and see the computer controlled network of lines bringing the sap out of the woods to the sugarhouse.

All are welcome. People can come to the presentation at the Town Hall and skip the tour. People can come to the Town Hall late and join the tour. Anyone, no matter their ages, who likes maple sugar should enjoy the day. As usual, bring a trail lunch and water, wear shoes appropriate for light hiking and remember to bring your bug repellent.