From sap to sustainability: Inside MSU’s Forestry Innovation Center

On a crisp spring morning in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, a web of tubing threads through a stand of maples. Clear sap drips into collection lines, destined not only for syrup but for research that could reshape medicine, food safety and even the whiskey industry.

And just down the road, another crew member finishes a safety course — one of more than a thousand loggers trained here each year to keep Michigan’s forests productive and its workers safe.

Welcome to Michigan State University’s Forestry Innovation Center, or FIC, a unique outpost where maple trees, paper mills, Christmas trees and global markets are all connected. The center manages projects that span centuries, with immediate impact on industry and communities across Michigan.

Rebuilding a northern hub

Once known mainly for woody biomass projects, the FIC has transformed under the leadership of Jesse Randall, who left a tenured faculty role at Iowa State University to direct the center. He brought expertise in Christmas trees and maple syrup and a vision to reestablish the facility as a hub for research, training and industry innovation.

Today, the FIC is the program administrator for the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI, which oversees 5 million acres of certified forestland and approximately 5 million tons of procured wood, anchoring Michigan’s $26 billion forest products industry. It also manages more than 9,000 acres of research forests, offering diverse conditions for experiments in snowpack, soils and wildlife impacts to trees.

“The Forestry Innovation Center is Michigan State’s northern hub — a living laboratory that connects research, industry and education to strengthen one of Michigan’s most important natural resource economies,” Randall says. “Over the past seven years, we’ve gone from being regionally irrelevant to running the industry in terms of training and certification, while also becoming a hub for global maple research.”

Maple research with global reach

The sweet story of maple syrup is at the heart of the FIC. But what happens in these woods goes far beyond pancakes.

Randall’s team collaborates with experts from Northwestern University and several different researchers at Montana State University to probe the mysteries of maple sap. Together, they’ve discovered that red maple sap resists spoilage in ways sugar maple does not — a clue to possible antimicrobial properties. They are exploring how these differences affect food safety, confections and other value-added products made from maple syrup.

“There has to be something different about red maple sap — it doesn’t spoil like sugar maple, and when you add it in, it greatly slows microbial conversion,” Randall says. “We’re working to understand why and how.”

And in a nod to Michigan’s craft beverage boom, researchers at the FIC have discovered 10 strains of naturally occurring yeast living in maple sap collection tubing. These native yeasts dramatically speed up the fermentation process — cutting production time from nearly two months to just a few days. The breakthrough paves the way for creating a pure maple distillate, an alcohol made entirely from maple sap with no added sugars or flavoring agents.

For 650 licensed distilleries in the maple region of the U.S., this discovery opens new opportunities to craft unique, locally sourced spirits while adding value for maple syrup producers and strengthening connections between the state’s forestry and craft beverage industries.

The impact is already reaching producers. The Hunderman family, for example, scaled up and expanded into distilling after seeing FIC’s maple research in action.

“Our partnership with MSU has been instrumental in scaling our business, enabling us to expand from 3,000 taps to over 35,000 and even start our own distillery,” says Quentin Hunderman, one of the owners of Twisted Tap Distillery in Grand Rapids.

Training and certifying Michigan’s loggers

Equally vital is FIC’s role in overseeing Michigan’s branch of the Sustainable Forestry Initiative, or SFI. Every year, about 1,000 loggers complete training here, recording more than 8,000 contact hours in safety, sustainability and best management practices.

“The Michigan State Forestry Innovation Center is the administrator for the Michigan Sustainable Forestry Initiative Implementation Committee,” says Gordy Mouw, director of network relations at SFI. “The Michigan SIC is the grassroots organization that works to implement sustainable forestry practices on the ground. The MISIC through MSU FIC completes logger training, community outreach and landowner outreach throughout Michigan to meet SFI certification requirements for the certified organizations in Michigan. The MSU FIC staff, facilities, research and education-focused platforms are well suited to work with SFI to meet its needs.”

That training underpins the certification of Michigan’s forests, ensuring that pulp, paper and packaging products can be sold worldwide under rigorous sustainability standards. From coffee cups to corrugated boxes, global buyers trace materials back through this verified tracking of materials from forest to final product.

“In down markets, certification keeps doors open,” Randall explains. “Consumers want proof their products come from responsibly managed forests, and our work makes that possible.”

The program also tackles safety challenges unique to the UP, from collisions between logging equipment and recreational snowmobiles to water-quality impacts along off-road vehicle trails. By blending science with on-the-ground training, the FIC helps keep Michigan’s forests both productive and protected.

Long horizons in forestry

Some of the center’s work stretches across generations. Researchers are growing 22,000 Christmas trees to support studies on labor-saving practices, stress tolerance and genetics for taller trees that fit modern homes. Once mature, those trees will be sold wholesale, with proceeds reinvested into new research.

Other projects span decades or even centuries. A 28-year white pine trial explores blister rust, a fungal disease that affects white pine and other five-needle pines, and planting densities — the number of trees planted per acre or hectare. FIC scientists test various planting densities over decades to determine optimal management strategies for timber production and ecological health, specifically the control of a native insect pest.

Perhaps most ambitious is a 300-year project with white oak, collecting acorns from every U.S. county where the species grows. As climate change shifts the range of oak forests, MSU scientists are studying how these trees adapt — and whether their wood chemistry will continue to impart the flavors that define American whiskey.

“Half of whiskey’s flavor comes from the barrel,” Randall says. “If we can’t secure the right oak chemistry, we risk losing a part of that heritage. Our work helps ensure it survives.”

Community, industry and future generations

Beyond research and training, the FIC serves as MSU’s face in the UP. Annual maple open houses draw about 1,000 visitors, including school groups who learn about science while picking pumpkins or tasting fresh sap. For many, it’s their first experience with the university outside of 4-H programs.

That visibility matters. “When budgets tighten, we need both industry and parents to speak up for us,” Randall says. “Having a $26 billion industry in one pocket and local families in the other gives us staying power.”

Looking ahead

With major U.S. Department of Agriculture funding supporting maple research and new projects on the horizon, the Forestry Innovation Center is positioned as both a guardian of tradition and a laboratory for the future. Whether it’s discovering antimicrobial compounds in red maple sap, certifying Michigan’s logging workforce, or planting oaks for barrels that won’t be used for centuries, the center is reshaping how forests fuel economies and communities.

“We’re not just a research station. We’re where industry, science and community come together — from school kids tapping maples to projects that stretch 300 years into the future,” Randall says. “Everything we do connects back to Michigan and it all starts in our forests and runs through here.”