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Managed by Cornell University's Dept. of Natural Resources, the Arnot Teaching and Research Forest serves many roles.
These range from a natural laboratory for experimenting with technologies used to collect and process sap from maple trees to an outdoor classroom where students learn about forestry, wildlife, conservation, and other related subjects.
In addition, workshops are held for landowners, teachers, biologists, foresters, and others who wish to learn about logging, mushrooms, outdoor education, and sugarbush management.
Every Spring a special Maple Weekend draws many people from the surrounding area. They come to learn about how maple trees are tapped for sap, how the sap is collected, and how maple syrup and candy is made. A pancake breakfast served during the weekend provides a good bases for sampling the results.
This photo shows where a small number of the Arnot's 2,000 taps and miles of tubing come together near the sugarhouse, where the sap is boiled down to syrup. Normally at this time of year one would expect snow on the ground here but this year we had record warm temperatures and the sap was shifted a couple of weeks earlier than usual.
More information about Arnot and its offerings can be found on the
Arnot web site.
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