Meet the 2020 Winners: Woodland Owner of the Year

A commitment to sustainable forest practises and an eye for innovation have earned Colchester County couple Norman and Stacey Paupin of Folly Lake the title of provincial Woodland Owners of the Year for 2020.

In 2012, the Paupins bought a 40-hectare woodlot near Shinimicas Cumberland Co. with the goal of restoring the forest to harvest firewood and non-timber forest products for personal use. Using treatments like thinning, they have improved the forest health by encouraging growth of native species.

Norman uses his mechanical engineering background in many aspects of management. He built his own tiny light weight forwarder (the buggy), which he uses to haul firewood while leaving a small footprint on his woodland.

Norman and Stacey use solar powered pumps to collect sap and have adapted technology to make birch syrup, which sells for a higher price than maple syrup. Norman has continually refined his process to produce a syrup that won the World Birch Syrup Championships in 2018. He is now further developing the process with a researcher at the Dalhousie University’s Agricultural Campus in Truro.

The Paupins management practices are a true representation of sustainability on an early successional woodland property.

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Norman and Stacey Paupin, Nova Scotia's Wootland Owners of the Year for 2020, have been recognized for good forest management and resource stewardship while restoring a woodland near Shinimicas, Cumberland Co.

Norman and Stacey Paupin are gaining value from their forest and enjoying the many rewards that can come from running a sustainable woodlot.

Norman and Stacey Paupin restored the forest on their woodland to harvest firewood and non-timber forest products. Using treatments like thinning, they have improved the forest health by encouraging growth of native species.