US maple syrup production

Geocaches in forests and maple syrup in jugs, climbing together for nineteen years. The geocachers are not, on the whole, tapping trees on their way through. The trees are not, on the whole, hosting Tupperware containers. Yet the lines move with companionable disregard for the difference.

Active geocaches grew from a few hundred thousand in 2005 to over three million today as the smartphone era replaced handheld GPS units. US maple syrup production climbed from about 1.3 to over 4 million gallons annually as Vermont, Maine, and New York producers expanded tap counts and tubing-system technology improved yields per tree. Two unrelated forest-adjacent industries sharing a window because the same nineteen years scaled outdoor-recreation participation and agricultural intensification at once. The forest worked harder.

Some forests had a busy two decades. The walkers and the syrup makers, both making more rounds.