Looking for Maple Syrup seeds

Hello!

We just sign up to this lovely site after many days of searching the web... :)
Hi!
We are a small nonprofit currently embarking on our own after many years of working with different nonprofits already stablish. we feel that this needed
to happen as we have taken a different  stand from our previous employers and need to go forward with out mission...
We currently searching for sugar Maple tree seeds (200 seeds)that can thrive in areas around 12,966 ft  (3,952 m)
.....our research show that Sugar maple trees can occasionally be found on dry rocky hillsides, at 500-1700 meters.....
but we are still researching if it is possible to grow sugar maple closer to 3,952 m
Any help is greatly appreciated!
thank you for your time!

http://www.sacha-tawa.org/
https://www.facebook.com/pg/Sacha_tawa-1767088650215526/about/?ref=page_internal
sachatawa(at) gmail (dot) com

You may be able to order seeds at:

https://www.amazon.com/100-Seeds-Sugar-Maple-saccharum/dp/B06WGS2S1G/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1503894536&sr=8-6&keywords=sugar+maple+trees

But I wonder if that is a particularly good idea? A 3 year old seedling will only be 12 to 18" tall. It will be years before it grows large enough to tap, and a number of more years till it reaches its producing prime. Several decades is a long time to tie up your land before it produces a crop. If you do find out that maple trees will work in your situation, you may want to order 2 or 3 year old seedlings from a nursery and save several years waiting for growth. You could try calling a nursery such as Musser Forests, in Pennsylvania, USA, for advice and the possibilities of shipping. 800-643-8319. Good luck.

Interesting questions!

Where are you located?  Are you in the US or Canada? What is your climate zone and what is it like.

How many trees do you want to survive? A handful or 200?

Since this is more of an experiment than a known guarantee, I would start with seeds or maybe saplings (1 year old) as it might be too costly to purchase 3 year old trees.

Tell us more details of the project.

We work in the Andes region of Peru, this project location is
https://www.google.com/maps/place/Pataypampa+District,+Peru/@-14.1656587,-74.9000779,7z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x916c631cda834807:0x8649ed682cc64d13!8m2!3d-14.16568!4d-72.658867
we are planing to grow the maple seeds first in nurseries to have a better chance of survival, we have had success in the pass implementing this process with pine tree seeds ...
sample of the pine trees in nursery (the purple hue pic show how we start the process, at night we cover them to protect them from the cold)
https://68.media.tumblr.com/30a2a46fcc819b9c29544539c6da738c/tumblr_osdvwtqyBw1womekfo1_1280.jpg

We are looking for healthy seeds from trees that have been organically grown.......Part of our goal is promote organic ways of growing and help Mother Earth by not adding to the problem.
The Indigenous communities that we work with are against any method of growing that is not organic as they also have come to the conclusion that fertilizers only destroys.

I have no idea as the zone type

thank you!

I do not understand why you are choosing to grow sugar Maple trees.  Even if you get them to grow, will they even produce quality sap for making maple syrup?  It takes consistent freezing at night and warm days above freezing.  If the temperature rises too much during the day the sap slows down and becomes too strong tasting for good syrup.

I'd go with Michelle's first suggestion and find some bulk seed from the warmer U.S states - I think there are even varieties in central america aswell.

I got interested, so I did some searching. Acer Grandidentatum(bigtooth sugar maples), can grow in altitudes up to 7,000ft according to this site and seem to be located in the warmer U.S states.

A very long document, here, gave these stats about Sugar Maples in Guatemala&Mexico:

Figure 1. Distribution of the Acer sacchraum subsp. skutchii populations in Mexico and Guatemala. Some Mexican provinces are illustrated. 1 is Tamaulipas (Tamaulipas state), 2 is Talpa de Allende (Jalisco state), 3 is Sierra de Manantlán (Jalisco state), 4 is Tenejapa (Chiapas state), and 5 is Las Minas (El Progreso department, Guatemala). A is Sierra Madre Oriental, B is Sierra Madre Occidental, C is Eje Neovolcánico, D is Sierra Madre del Sur, and E is Serranías Transísmicas. C and D are considered Serranías Meridionales. More detailed location of sites studied are not provided to prevent wood extraction.

Hopefully with those stats and information you can match up your climate to one of the listed places and find a contact there.  

We choosing to grow sugar maple because it has met our requirements for introduction to the region.
Part of our mission is to reforest deforested areas and also help the communities that live around this areas.
Maple syrup production will open new economic opportunities for the Indigenous communities, also the tree lumber can be
another economic opportunity in the long run.
Most of the native trees have been lost and Australian Eucalyptus trees introduce to Peru in the first half of the twentieth century
are by far the most pervasive spices currently inhabiting the highlands.
In order to stablish a healthy ecosystem we are looking to introduce other trees (natives and non)that can handle the Andes, we successfully introduce  
pine trees and also been able to grow edible mushrooms with in the pine allowing us to aid the communities in the short term and long term economically.
This short term and long term economic opportunity is what has lead us to look at the Maple trees as a possible candidate.
We are still educating ourself about the Maple tree needed habitat and climate but we are hopeful as the region we currently working in have diverse microclimates
do to the mountainous topography.

What is growing there now? It seems likely that some local trees and shrubs would be as valuable as sugar maple and might produce much faster. Are there even any native seedlings growing there that could be encouraged?

Maybe you could interplant trees with berry bushes?

I wonder how long it would take a sugar maple seedling, in optimal growing conditions, to achieve the size required to tap?  My guess is 40 years.  I'd be impressed by 30 years.  I tap mine when they are 12" diameter at chest height.  Some folks start tapping at 10".