The annual maple syruping program hosted by Dallas County Conservation brings many visitors outdoors, though the date and time for these activities is as reliable as the weather.

Conservation Outreach Coordinator Ken Keffer says they got an early start to the process this year with an early freeze-thaw cycle in January that caused the maple tree sap to start flowing. Naturalists acted quickly to get the trees tapped at Sportsman’s Park in Dawson, though Keffer says unfortunately that meant very few people got to see the start of the process. However, he encourages people to join the Conservation contact list to learn when the final phase of the syrup process will commence.

“So this is one of my favorite programs of the year, the problem is it’s completely dependent on the weather and so it’s hard to schedule out in advance. We call them pop-up programs; we don’t know when they’re going to be, but when the conditions are right (we’ll contact people saying), ‘Hey the program’s going to be this week!’ So toward the end of February and perhaps on into March as the tapping season sort of wraps up, we will do the follow up which is the boil down event.”

To sign up to be on the maple syruping contact list, click the links below to visit the Dallas County Conservation website and official Facebook page, respectively.

https://www.dallascountyiowa.gov/services/conservation-and-recreation/conservation
https://www.facebook.com/DallasCCB/