ESF scientist who brought American chestnut tree back from the brink of extinction has died
William 'Bill' Powell, ESF scientist and founder of the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project, died Nov. 12
American Chestnut
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I’m excited to think the Chestnut may be back! I’ve read it was 25% of our eastern forests, but don’t know if it was that plentiful all the way up the coast. I don’t know if any stumps sprouting or any old barns made of it here. I think there was a tone of it in PA.
I'm not sure how much was in this area but I do remember the man who sold us the property telling me about all the nice elm that were on the property back when he was a kid.
Did American Chestnut Really Dominate the Eastern Forest?
“The American chestnut once comprised 25% or more of the Native Eastern Hardwood Forest.” American Scientist (1988) “Chestnut was perhaps the most widespread and abundant species in the Eastern United States since the last glaciation.” USDA Forest Service Southern Research Station General...
arboretum.harvard.edu
Probably not in our area though. Looks like it grew up into the Albany area, but it probably didn’t like it much, lol.
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire: Push to plant 1 million nut trees in mid-Atlantic - WTOP News
There’s a new push to plant 1 million nut trees in the mid-Atlantic years after the crop was devastated by blight.
wtop.com
I remember my sister's home had 2 American chestnut trees in the backyard (Niagara Falls Ontario )
They were magnificent trees. They were replaced with 2 horse Chestnuts not the same. That pair of
Horse Chestnuts stand to this day I'm 74 and she is 81
They were magnificent trees. They were replaced with 2 horse Chestnuts not the same. That pair of
Horse Chestnuts stand to this day I'm 74 and she is 81
Yeah, horse chestnut is quite a different tree! I don’t think they’re edible. I remember learning to ID them in a plant class, but only remember the leaves. I doubt I could ID one now if it fell on me.
great job this man did, the chestnut is a magnificent tree, here it requires a certain altitude to grow well, at least 6-700 meters above sea level
It was plentiful in the Berkshires across the border in CT. My wife grew up in an inn made entirely out of chestnut. The fellow who built it made two others also from blight-stricken chestnut during the depression.
I am starting to think an American blight resistant chestnut is in the same category as commerical fusion reactors 
. They are always reported as just a few more years. I have been looking to buy real proven chestnuts to plant for 30 years. I can take my chances on stock from areas that were and are isolated from the blight but from everything I have read, they are still prone to blight if planted in an area that has the blight present like all those areas that still have chestnuts that sprout off of old root systems. The only other option is to know someone involved in the attempts to reintroduce them or make a donation to group that is attempting it and hope that very long odds gets me a nut or seedling. Even then my understanding is there will be promising generation that are test planted that is expected to be "the one" and inevitably when deliberately exposed to the blight, there is still a high mortality or undesirable traits and then its another 20 year cycle to test the next cross.
The transgenic solution apparently is already here but it created a firestorm and schism in the chestnut community, and I think those in opposition won.
. They are always reported as just a few more years. I have been looking to buy real proven chestnuts to plant for 30 years. I can take my chances on stock from areas that were and are isolated from the blight but from everything I have read, they are still prone to blight if planted in an area that has the blight present like all those areas that still have chestnuts that sprout off of old root systems. The only other option is to know someone involved in the attempts to reintroduce them or make a donation to group that is attempting it and hope that very long odds gets me a nut or seedling. Even then my understanding is there will be promising generation that are test planted that is expected to be "the one" and inevitably when deliberately exposed to the blight, there is still a high mortality or undesirable traits and then its another 20 year cycle to test the next cross. The transgenic solution apparently is already here but it created a firestorm and schism in the chestnut community, and I think those in opposition won.
The hardest part of planting chestnuts is the idea of all those prickly balls laying all over the yard! In Houston I had a few sweet gum trees. They quickly disappeared.
The balance of those fears is being able to eat them. That Could sway the worries, lol.
The balance of those fears is being able to eat them. That Could sway the worries, lol.
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