Ken St. Pierre and his wife, Alicia, prepare for Maple Weekend 2025 at their Big Lake Maple Farm in Wolfeboro.
Ken St. Pierre wears many hats: husband, property owner, New Hampshire Fish and Game conservation officer and television personality on "North Woods Law."
In late winter and early spring, he adds another: that of maple producer at Big Lake Maple in Wolfeboro.
It's another 40 hours or so added onto ice rescues, poaching arrests, lost dogs and found people, but St. Pierre isn't complaining. Tramping through the woods for the "sweet stuff" is an extension of an outdoor life he loves and readily shares, in person and on the small screen.
St. Pierre was raised in the Wakefield/Farmington/Wolfeboro area, and he says he grew up outdoors.
"I was always hunting and fishing," he recalled, relaxing in his home on his wooded property. "Something happened with our neighbor when I was 12, and I became introduced to the world of Fish and Game."
The agency and the job drew him in, and "I've never looked back. I've been with them for nine years."
St. Pierre joined the agency at approximately the same time the Animal Planet channel shifted its "North Woods Law" focus from Maine to New Hampshire. He took the filming in stride.
"I've done eight to 10 episodes with them," he said. "It's definitely cool. It's beneficial for the department -- people know what we do."
St. Pierre works with a chocolate lab named Winni after swapping out his first K-9 partner, Fin.
"Fin went on to be a PTSD service dog with a veteran in the southern part of the state," he said.
"If he goes anywhere, Winni goes with him," St. Pierre's wife, Alicia, said.
St. Pierre and Winni were honored with the Vermont Police Canine Association Evidence Detection Team Award for 2022. They were cited for their work on a triple-murder case in August 2022, when St. Pierre and Winni found a handgun and magazine along Interstate 93.
His favorite filmed adventure?
"Probably the turkey case in Ossipee," he said. "That one was just fun. It had everything -- the dog stuff, mystery, interviewing. And it turned 180 degrees in the middle."
He also remembers an incident with a bear in Farmington.
"That one's funny to watch," he recalled. "I was sick as a dog. It makes me laugh to see how medicated I was."
"There's good stuff and bad stuff," St. Pierre said, with Alicia adding, "It shows all aspects of the job."
The original contract for "North Woods Law" ended, and "COVID blew up," St. Pierre said. The producers are working on a new format with YouTube short features.
But right now, his focus is on his taps.
St. Pierre didn't grow up doing maple or tapping the trees in his backyard. When he worked in a cabinet shop in Dover around 2015, the other employees collected sap and made maple syrup.
"I got to thinking, 'I'll try it,'" he recalled.
He tapped 20 to 30 trees on his parents' property, collecting the sap in old soda bottles and milk jugs. And he was all in.
"It's a bug you get bit by," St. Pierre said.
His first batch was very light.
"It didn't cook all the way," St. Pierre said.
He was using an old candy thermometer and learned his first lesson: "Make sure you line it up with the correct temperature." He salvaged "maybe a gallon" from that first effort.
But it was a good gallon. He received support from family and friends, who bought his first bottles of syrup.
"I sold a pint here, a pint there," he said.
He tapped an aunt's property and extracted more sap.
St. Pierre updated his equipment and is still updating.
"In 2018, I really stepped on the gas," he said.
He bought his home, with the adjacent woods, and upgraded his evaporator. He mined the maples on his own property, starting with 300 to 350 taps. He now sets about 700 taps and adds at least 40 hours on to his regular work week.
"I don't see him in March," Alicia said. "And in November and December, he's prepping the equipment."
While the liquid gold in plastic jug or glass bottle is the centerpiece of their work, the St. Pierres have recognized the need to diversify.
"You can only sell so much syrup," he said. "If you don't sell it, you have to sell it bulk, and the price drops."
But the couple has branched out, offering maple candy, maple granulated sugar and maple cream.
"We're contemplating going into nuts," St. Pierre said.
Alicia recently discovered cider doughnuts with maple cream icing, and a version of those will be in the shop for Maple Weekend.
Alicia works full-time as an environmental scientist, and though she jokes about being a maple widow, she's involved in the process. She helps create new products, helps with the bottling and, her husband said, "She makes sure I'm eating and drinking."
The St. Pierres will once again participate in Maple Weekend. In their first year, they drew 30 visitors to the sugar house. Last year, they hosted 200.
"Every year we get people who live in town, and they don't know we're here," he said.
But once families discover the sugar house, they tend to come back, according to Alicia.
They'll sell the candy, cream, granulated sugar and doughnuts, along with free samples of maple right off the tap. People especially enjoy the hot sips of maple.
"They say, 'This is what it turns into?'" Alicia said.
"They are blown away," St. Pierre said.
It's still a lot of work, with the ratio of 40 gallons of sap to one gallon of syrup, but St. Pierre is willing to put in the time.
"It's my passion," he said. "For one thing, maple has a beginning, middle and end. I like that. And I like the idea of turning nothing into something."
The timeless routines of tapping also relieve stresses from his day job, St. Pierre said.
He's also bonded with other maple producers. He often goes over to help a friend in Loudon with his taps, and when St. Pierre had to attend a conference for K-9 officers, Brad Moore of Loudon came over and did his taps.
"We share tips and tricks," he said of his maple buddies. "Maple is my community."
Big Lake Maple will be open March 15-16 for Maple Weekend. For more information and hours, visit biglakemaple.com or e-mail [email protected].