Sugarmakers at Hi Vue Farms secure sweet deal for wildlife

Deep connections to the land help connect habitat for animals

Jessica Boone of Hi Vue Farms in Richford Vermont has a strong connection to the forest where she grew up—so strong that she made returning there a condition of marriage. Her family has tended the land and made maple syrup there for generations.

“I’m that attached to this place,” she said. “My roots are that deep here.”

Nearly 30 years later, she and her husband, Matt, have raised a fifth generation of sugarmakers whose tie to the land is just as strong. Their two grown children didn’t bat an eye when they learned that their inheritance would be a few old houses and conserved land.

“My kids both looked at me and said, ‘Well, it’s not like we ever wanted it sold and developed anyway,’” said Jessica. “It’s fantastic to know that this property means that much to all of us.” Jessica conserved the 400+ acre property with us in the spring of 2023.

In addition to Hi Vue’s Audubon-certified bird-friendly maple syrup business, they rent a few hay fields, maintain a farmstand for neighbors, and host a vacation rental.

As part of Audubon’s bird-friendly maple program, the sugarbush is managed to foster habitat for birds and other wildlife, and optimize breeding and foraging opportunities for forest birds. The work benefits nesting songbirds such as Scarlet Tanagers, Wood Thrushes, Black-throated Blue Warblers, and Veeries.

Connection is critical for wildlife: conserved forestland in Vermont

The family’s love of the land fostered another important connection: a place for wildlife to live and roam. Their 408 acres of mostly forested land borders another 4,000 acres of VLT-conserved forest; it’s all part of a 60,000-acre chain of conserved forestland in Vermont.

Uninterrupted forest is important because it helps wildlife migrate safely, maintain genetic diversity, and adapt to climate change. Hi Vue is home to animals that range long distances, including moose, bobcat, and a bear Jessica’s family named Grandfather Bear, who once spent the summer “literally sitting on the front lawn half the time,” she said.

Credit Jessica Boone

The family’s 400+ acres of mostly forested land is home to animals that range long distances, including moose, bobcat, and a bear Jessica’s family named Grandfather Bear, who once spent the summer “literally sitting on the front lawn half the time,” she said.

Hi Vue’s protection is the latest project championed by the nonprofit Cold Hollow to Canada, whose mission is to protect connected ecosystems and promote community-led stewardship across seven northern Vermont towns (Jessica is on the board of directors). The project also helps clean water by protecting headwater streams that eventually feed into Lake Champlain.

In 2020, Jessica enrolled her land in a carbon cooperative launched by VLT and Cold Hollow to Canada. In total, over 7,500 acres in the Cold Hollow mountains are enrolled in the voluntary carbon market, which provides payments to landowners like Boone for enhanced forest management practices.

Jessica says the biggest benefit of conservation is maintaining her relationship with the land she holds so dear. “It’s a comfort that my favorite spots are there every year, because there’s a timelessness to it. I’m literally walking in the footprints of my ancestors.”