Aborists work to keep Canada's oldest sugar maple's legacy alive
By Dan Dakin, Welland Tribune
First posted: Saturday, August 23, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
WELLAND, Ont. — Canada's oldest sugar maple — believed to be more than 500 years old — is starting to show its age, but Niagara-area arborists are making sure its good genes live on for generations to come.
Like an elderly relative, maintenance staff visit the so-called Comfort Maple once a week.
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) staff clean up the leaves and branches around the tree in Pelham, Ont., now in a parkette that was once a homestead owned by the Comfort family, early settlers in the area.
"When I go there, I'm still impressed with it's grandeur," Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn says. "But I think it is declining."
NPCA spokesman Michael Reles doesn't know why or how this particular tree has survived as long as it has. Having been surrounded by farmland for much of its life might be part of it, but good genes also can't be ruled out.
For that reason, the conservation authority has collected its seeds and has so far produced 45 sugar maple saplings, which are now planted on conservation authority properties around the region.
"We haven't told anyone where they are and we aren't publicizing (the locations) until they're older and more established," Reles said.
The concern is that people will steal the saplings. The NPCA bans people from taking seeds from the Comfort Maple site without the agency's consent.
Another 300 seeds were sent to EarthGen International in Dunnville, Ont., which successfully grew 200 saplings.
Half will go to the NPCA and the other half will go to the Town of Pelham, which plans to plant 20 around town. The rest will be sold off as a fundraiser for the town's Communities in Bloom committee.
"The idea is this is a way to have a legacy of the tree and recognize how important it is," Augustyn says.
As for its life expectancy, Reles said there's really no way to know how long the Comfort Maple might be around.
"It's fairly unknown because there's no (sugar maple) tree that has lived this long," he said.
Even the oldest sugar maples don't usually live past 300 years.
"We're doing what we can to try to maintain its structure. We're not trying to artificially keep it alive. It's a piece of nature, but we're out there once a week looking at it and maintaining it."
There's no immediate concern. Despite its age, the Comfort Maple is actually still growing — 10 centimetres around the middle just since 2008.
dan.dakin@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @dandakinmedia
--- ---
About the Comfort Maple:
The tree was already well established when early settlers, the Comfort family, bought the land in 1816. The land — and the tree — stayed in the family until 1961.
The land was donated to the NPCA under a lease lasting 999 years, or until the tree dies.
It's now protected under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The Comfort Maple in Pelham is believed to be more than 500-years-old. In order to preserve its heritage, seeds from the sugar maple have been used to make 200 saplings. (Dan Dakin/QMI Agency)
Aborists work to keep Canada's oldest sugar maple's legacy alive | Ontario | New
By Dan Dakin, Welland Tribune
First posted: Saturday, August 23, 2014 12:00 AM EDT
WELLAND, Ont. — Canada's oldest sugar maple — believed to be more than 500 years old — is starting to show its age, but Niagara-area arborists are making sure its good genes live on for generations to come.
Like an elderly relative, maintenance staff visit the so-called Comfort Maple once a week.
Niagara Peninsula Conservation Authority (NPCA) staff clean up the leaves and branches around the tree in Pelham, Ont., now in a parkette that was once a homestead owned by the Comfort family, early settlers in the area.
"When I go there, I'm still impressed with it's grandeur," Pelham Mayor Dave Augustyn says. "But I think it is declining."
NPCA spokesman Michael Reles doesn't know why or how this particular tree has survived as long as it has. Having been surrounded by farmland for much of its life might be part of it, but good genes also can't be ruled out.
For that reason, the conservation authority has collected its seeds and has so far produced 45 sugar maple saplings, which are now planted on conservation authority properties around the region.
"We haven't told anyone where they are and we aren't publicizing (the locations) until they're older and more established," Reles said.
The concern is that people will steal the saplings. The NPCA bans people from taking seeds from the Comfort Maple site without the agency's consent.
Another 300 seeds were sent to EarthGen International in Dunnville, Ont., which successfully grew 200 saplings.
Half will go to the NPCA and the other half will go to the Town of Pelham, which plans to plant 20 around town. The rest will be sold off as a fundraiser for the town's Communities in Bloom committee.
"The idea is this is a way to have a legacy of the tree and recognize how important it is," Augustyn says.
As for its life expectancy, Reles said there's really no way to know how long the Comfort Maple might be around.
"It's fairly unknown because there's no (sugar maple) tree that has lived this long," he said.
Even the oldest sugar maples don't usually live past 300 years.
"We're doing what we can to try to maintain its structure. We're not trying to artificially keep it alive. It's a piece of nature, but we're out there once a week looking at it and maintaining it."
There's no immediate concern. Despite its age, the Comfort Maple is actually still growing — 10 centimetres around the middle just since 2008.
dan.dakin@sunmedia.ca
Twitter: @dandakinmedia
--- ---
About the Comfort Maple:
The tree was already well established when early settlers, the Comfort family, bought the land in 1816. The land — and the tree — stayed in the family until 1961.
The land was donated to the NPCA under a lease lasting 999 years, or until the tree dies.
It's now protected under the Ontario Heritage Act.
The Comfort Maple in Pelham is believed to be more than 500-years-old. In order to preserve its heritage, seeds from the sugar maple have been used to make 200 saplings. (Dan Dakin/QMI Agency)
Aborists work to keep Canada's oldest sugar maple's legacy alive | Ontario | New
