Maple-sugaring program a 35-year winter tradition

When you’re pouring gooey, sweet maple syrup on a stack of pancakes, did you ever wonder where it comes from or how it’s made? PPL’s Montour Environmental Preserve teaches visitors about the secrets of maple syrup each winter.

The preserve will again open its Sugar Shack to the public in February and March, continuing a tradition that began more than three decades ago. PPL’s preserve invites young and old alike to experience the sights, sounds, tastes and smells of the maple-sugaring process from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 24 and from noon to 4 p.m. Sunday, March 4.

Since the program began in 1972 nearly 30,000 people have walked through the woods leading to the preserve’s Sugar Shack to learn how to tap trees and then slowly boil the sap over a wood fire to produce syrup.

“The maple-sugaring program at the Montour Environmental Preserve is one of the highlights of PPL’s environmental education efforts,” said Jon Beam, PPL’s senior naturalist. “We often see people who attended maple-sugaring programs in the early years as children returning with their children.”

Last year, more than 522 students learned the time-honored maple sugaring process that dates back to the country’s early settlers.

Programs will begin on the hour in the preserve’s Environmental Education Center, 700 Preserve Road, Danville. Preserve staff will share a brief film and talk about the history of sugar making. Families, Scouts, 4-H groups and others are invited. Maple products and posters will be available for purchase.

The Montour Environmental Preserve, located about four miles northeast of Washingtonville, is operated by PPL in conjunction with its Montour power plant in Derry Township. The preserve offers a variety of outdoor recreational activities and numerous programs each year on the wildlife, environment and history of north central Pennsylvania.

PPL is hosting the event as part of PPL Project Earth, an initiative through which the company educates the public about energy resources and the environment. For more information, click here or e-mail pplpreserves@pplweb.com.

PPL Corporation (NYSE: PPL), headquartered in Allentown, Pa., controls more than 11,000 megawatts of generating capacity in the United States, sells energy in key U.S. markets and delivers electricity to more than 5 million customers in Pennsylvania, the United Kingdom and Latin America.

Facts about Maple Sugaring

• Maple sugaring dates to the Native Americans, who taught the country’s early settlers how to harvest the sap of maple trees to make sugar.
• Sap from sugar maple trees is preferred because it typically has the highest sugar content of most trees.
• It takes about 40 gallons of sap to make one gallon of syrup.
• Maple sugaring only takes place in about 14 Northeastern states and parts of Canada.
• Sugaring is best when the weather alternates between freezing and thawing. In Pennsylvania, that usually means February and March.
• Maple sugaring at the Montour Environmental Preserve began in 1972.
• Since the launch of the program, nearly 30,000 people have learned about maple sugaring at the preserve.

How to Get There

From Interstate 80:
Take Exit 224 and drive west on Route 54. At Washingtonville, turn right as if heading toward Strawberry Ridge. At the first intersection, turn left onto PPL Road. Continue north on PPL Road past the Montour power plant and a group of greenhouses to the intersection with Preserve Road. Turn right onto Preserve Road. Montour Environmental Preserve’s office and visitors center will be on the left.

From Williamsport:
Drive east on Interstate 80, then east on Route 54. Watch for the intersection with Route 44. Continue on Route 54 past the intersection. About a mile later, turn left onto Preserve Road. Continue past the intersection with PPL Road. Montour Environmental Preserve’s office and visitors center will be on the left.

Note to Editors: If you would like to arrange for a reporter or video crew to attend one of the maple-sugaring events, please call Lissette Santana at 610-774-5997.