[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 142 (Tuesday, September 6, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Page S4425]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




 RECOGNIZING THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE PROCTOR MAPLE RESEARCH CENTER

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I would like to recognize the 75th 
anniversary of an integral Vermont institution, the Proctor Maple 
Research Center, which is housed at the University of Vermont. The 
Proctor Maple Research Center has been an international leader in the 
development of knowledge in maple production and in the sustainability 
of the maple tree and the Northern Forest for the past 75 years. The 
practical and scholarly research conducted at the center has 
contributed to increased efficiency and sustainability of maple 
production and to the well-being of maple trees and their habitat. In 
fact, the work of the Proctor Maple Research Center has been essential 
to the development of the entire North American maple industry.
  In 1946, former Vermont Governor Mortimer Proctor purchased the 
Harvey Farm in Underhill to give to the University of Vermont as a site 
to conduct research on the extensive maple stand located there. In 
1947, Dr. James Marvin and Dr. Fred Taylor opened the Proctor Maple 
Research Center, marking its first year of maple research and 
production. Today, it has close to 6,500 taps for production, with 
research located on 200 acres of land on the western side of Vermont's 
Mount Mansfield, and new trees added each year for research.
  Maple research has been a proud part of the University of Vermont's 
history since the 1890s, and the establishment of the Proctor Maple 
Research Center has made UVM a leader in maple research globally. The 
university has provided technical support, research-based data, and 
created new techniques and technology for maple producers across North 
America. Patented inventions have increased maple yield, such as the 
2009 check valve spout that nearly doubles production from each maple 
tree.
  Climate change has had a direct and visible impact on maple 
production, and the Proctor Maple Research Center's research on sap 
yield and sugar maple health in the face of differing tree nutrition 
levels and climate challenges has been crucial in understanding how 
climate change may be affecting maple tree health and sap production.
  Proctor Maple Research Center staff serve as advisers to maple 
producers on the Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, the North 
American Maple Syrup Council, and the International Maple Syrup 
Institute. The center has provided invaluable support to the maple 
industry, especially as it confronts environmental challenges, ever-
changing regulations, and diseases and pests of the sugar maple tree.
  Many Vermonters grow up sugaring, spending many a cold March evening 
in a sugarhouse tending sap as it boils into syrup. For generations, 
maple sugar production has played an important role in our State's 
agricultural economy. The Proctor Maple Research Center has provided 
the research, technical assistance, and the on-going support that has 
helped continue this beloved and important Vermont tradition. It is 
hard to imagine that Vermont would remain the top maple producer in the 
country without the Proctor Maple Research Center.
  I offer my sincere congratulations to the Proctor Maple Research 
Center and to Dr. Timothy Perkins, research professor and director, his 
staff, and the many students who have worked there on its 75th 
anniversary. I look forward to their continued success in the field of 
sugar maple research and development for years to come.

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