Storm aftermath poses problems for maple syrup producers on St. Joseph Island (3 photos)

Fairisle Maple Products owner Dave Stadnyk says he’ll have to either move fast or throw in the towel on the upcoming maple sap harvest season after this week’s winter storm left fallen trees and tree limbs strewn throughout St. Joseph Island. 

Stadnyk says that the scene is no different at his property - located on Highway 548 in Jocelyn Township - where he’s been making maple products for more than two decades. 

“I’m not sure that we can even get up and running again. We’ve only got six weeks,” he told SooToday. “It’s a real mess. We’re going to go at it, but it’s going to be very risky even if I get running.” 

“That’s our livelihood, that’s what we do - so that’s why I have to stay at it, because that’s what I do, you know?” 

Stadnyk now needs to hire some additional manpower in order to clear the maple sugar bush of trees on paths, and clear debris off of the 36 miles of sap lines that run through the property. 

“I’m literally just pushing trees out of the way with my backhoe, so we can even get around,” he said. “I’ve got power lines down - I have different power lines way back in the bush. It’s very, very ugly.”

The island’s largest producer, Gilbertson’s Maple Products, tells SooToday that its production of maple syrup and maple products shouldn’t be delayed due to the aftermath of the storm - but there’s a lot more work to be done because of it. 

“It was pretty bad there, but it ended up not being as bad as it appeared initially,” said employee Kyle Gilbertson. “Thankfully, a lot of the ice has fallen off with the warm weather yesterday, and has allowed the trees to relax back to normal.”

“But there are lots of branches that have fallen down that we’ll have to go and spend a bunch of man-hours out in the bush, picking our lines back up and doing a few repairs.”

But for other producers of maple products, the storm’s aftermath is leading to some fears that this season might be done before it even got a chance to start.   

Stadnyk tells SooToday that Jocelyn Township Reeve Mark Henderson has already reached out to Algoma-Manitoulin MPP Michael Mantha in a bid to get him out to St. Joseph Island to look at storm damage.

According to Stadnyk, his maple stand is fixable, but for the most part, it’s “wiped out.” 

“I don’t have a mortgage. I’ve worked for 20-some years to get rid of all my bills, and then I get this,” he said. “It’s very frustrating and heartbreaking. I don’t even know what to say.”