An American chestnut bur grows at The American Chestnut Foundation in Virginia. Their hybrid trees, the result of more than 30 years of backcross breeding of American and Chinese chestnut trees, aim to preserve the American species’ qualities while adding the Chinese species’ resistance to blight.
Photo courtesy of The American Chestnut Foundation.
Nearly four billion American chestnut trees (Castanea dentata) populated eastern North American forests at the turn of the 20th century. Considered the most beautiful of all chestnut trees by many, they offered multiple benefits to people and wildlife.
“…They were among the largest, tallest, and fastest-growing trees. The wood was rot-resistant, straight-grained, and suitable for furniture, fencing, and building. The nuts fed billions of birds and animals. It was almost a perfect tree..,” states The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) in their website https://www.acf.org/the-american-chestnut/history-american-chestnut/ TACF, a not-for-profit organization, has a 4-star rating with Charity Navigator.
Early in the 20th century, an Asian chestnut blight (Cryphonectria parasitica) decimated their population. For all practical purposes, they became extinct.
“The chestnut blight has been called the greatest ecological disaster to strike the world’s forests in all of history,” notes the website, “The American chestnut tree survived all adversaries for 40 million years, then disappeared within 40.”
Volunteers, Scientists Fight Back
TACF has been conducting research to develop an American chestnut tree that is resistant to the blight. It will then be reintroduced into forests in its native range. In addition to extensive research work, the National TACF has
- Established 680 tree planting locations across an estimated 1,183 acres of public and private lands.
- Volunteers have logged almost 50,000 work hours per year.
Public Invited to Chapter Meeting March 18
The Maryland chapter of TACF, which includes Washington, D.C. and Delaware, will host their Spring Meeting March 18. For details see below.
Who: Free and open to the public
What: Spring meeting
When: 10:30 a.m., Sat., March 18
Where: Rockville Izaak Walton League of America,
18301 Waring Station Rd, Germantown, MD
TACF forester Michael French, the featured speaker, will discuss “Application of the Forestry Reclamation Approach to Restore American Chestnut on Surface-Mined Lands.” The meeting also will include an update on chestnut restoration science, state chapter progress as well as an update of work done by the Maryland chapter. Refreshments will be served.
Future Activities
The chapter holds regular work sessions. The public is invited to volunteer and help plant chestnut trees. Those meetings will be posted here in the future.
What to Learn More?
To read the chapter’s newsletter, click here
file:///C:/Users/lmoca/Downloads/Spring%202017%20newsletter-DRAFT%20(2)%201.pdf