Survival Knowledge-Trees for Survival

To become skilled in the way of survival and living off the land, gaining knowledge of your local trees is useful. Trees offer the trained nature enthusiast opportunities for shelter, water, food, and tools. The Bigleaf Maple, (Acer macrophyllum), has many of these qualities and is a desirable early spring forage tree for long-term survival.

Survival Knowledge-Trees for Survival

On my walk this early April in the foothills of the Cascades mountains. I came across several tall Bigleaf Maple Trees (Acer macrophyllum).  The tree's flower buds are beginning to unfold. The buds have a sweet scent, are large, and are often hard to reach because of the height of the tree branches.

Few trees offer the intrepid forager the bounty that the Western Bigleaf Maple does.

 Bigleaf Maple (Acer macrophyllum)

Known as “isick stick,” in the Chinook language, the Paddle Tree means paddle-wood, or oar-wood, and is a favorite wood of First People's Nations for carving canoe paddles.

 Edible parts

• sap
• flowers
• leaves
• seeds

Western Maple is a hardwood

It is a medium-hardness, fine-grained hardwood popular for commercial use, including furniture, veneer, plywood, musical instruments, and more.

• burlwood
• canoe paddles
• fire wood
• gun stocks
• netting needles
• self bow

Fire Craft

• inner bark for coarse tinder
• handhold/bearing cap for the bow drill
• spindle for bow drill

March through May, flower buds begin to unfold

Eventually, the tree buds unfold into a hanging cluster of small, green to yellowish, tassel-like flowers, and when young and tender, are excellent eating!

The tender flower clusters are tasty stir fried, steamed, or added to your survival soup.

Maple Syrup

I often get asked if maple syrup can be made by tapping our Western Maple tree. The answer is yes, though the sap must be reduced longer by boiling than its eastern cousins reducing the sap to a syrup-like state.

Tapping our western Maple tree for syrup begins during early March.

Is the Bigleaf Maple Tree Poisonous?

“Is any part of the pacific maple tree (Acer macrophyllum) poisonous?”

Happily, the answer is no! I have eaten the leaves and flowers of this tree with no ill effects. And I could find no reference to any toxicity with this species. You can feel confident foraging this tree.

Where to find Bigleaf Maple

You will find Bigleaf Maple from southeast Alaska along coastal rivers and forests to southern California, with the heaviest concentrations growing in the Pacific Northwest.

USFS Acer macrophyllum Distribution Map

Acer macrophyllum Leaf

The *A. macrophyllum leaves are opposite, deciduous, with 5-lobes leaves. As you can see by the photo the leaves are quite large. The leaves are magnificent in size and vary from tree to tree.

Notice the holes in the leaf. The holes were made from large hailstones during a July 2024 thunderstorm in the central Oregon Cascades along the McKenzie River.

*Reference: Pojar & Mackinnon. Revised edition Plants of Coastal British Columbia Washington, Oregon, & Alaska.

Netting Needles

Maple is a beautiful light-colored wood. I make my netting needles from Bigleaf Maple and find the wood easy to carve. It sands smooth, and the netting needles come out strong and flexible.

Rabbit Stick

The Rabbit stick or throwing stick is used to hunt small game as the name suggests. I carved it from a limb of Big Leaf Maple that I harvested on the ground. This is one of many limbs and trees that broke during an December ice storm.

The red painted circle on the Rabbit Stick is a colorful dye made from the Oregon Grape plant fruit.