New Brunswick’s maple producers hit by last week’s ice storm say the ice that accumulated during the storm has caused extensive damage to their maple trees.
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According to the NB Maple Syrup Association, syrup producers from Miramichi up toward the Acadian Peninsula suffered expensive losses from the ice storm.
Marc Chiasson, who owns a large 32,000-tree maple stand in Paquetville, N.B. told Global News at least 1,000 of his maple trees have toppled under the weight of ice and branches are strewn across his sap lines as a result. He said the power source to one of his buildings was also torn off.
“I have a crew of 18 people in here to help me try and clean it up,” said Chiasson. But he said the damage is severe.
It’s a difficult situation for Bonnie Dixon of Trites Family Sugar Bush as well, though she said there isn’t as much severity in the small maple grove of 3,000 trees in Stilesville, N.B.
Dixon said she visited her property on Tuesday for the first time since the ice storm and was shocked to see the damage.
“There was a lot more trees down than I really thought that there would be, so many branches down,” Dixon said.
Broken tree branches are lying across and caught up in the sap lines all over her maple grove, according to Dixon, and she said some trees too to large to move by hand.
“I am going to have to bring a crew in to help me.”
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Dixon’s brother Gerald Knowlton is helping his sister cut back branches and remove them from her sap lines, but he said the clean up is slow and tedious.
“I didn’t think it got his that bad out here but evidently it did,” said Knowlton.
But even though she’s faced with an overwhelming clean up, Dixon said she feels grateful.
“I don’t have a lot of damage on my pipeline,” Dixon said.
Both Dixon and Chaisson said they won’t be able to determine how much sap the damaged trees can produce until it starts to flow this spring.