Volunteers Power Our Mission
Many hands make light work! TACF volunteers are interesting, inspired folks you get to know as you work, learn, and grow trees together! If you crave connection and want to create positive change, Maine TACF is a great place to give and to get both.
We believe that we can recreate the forest community and revitalize our human community at the same time. We’re doing it day by day. Won’t you join us?
With your help we can accomplish these tasks and more this year:
Chestnut Restoration — Join or start a Chestnut Restoration Team near you. Plant, tend and share chestnut trees and their story with others. Chestnuts-Across-Maine partners with local land trusts, parks, schools and towns to connect people and chestnuts.
Potting seeds — In February we gather at a member’s greenhouse to pot up the nuts that will become the seedlings of 2025.
Inoculating — In June we will inject live blight fungus into the bark of about 3000 trees in our seed orchards in Searsport, Phippsburg, Stetson, Hartland, and Winthrop, to see if the trees show any sign of blight resistance.
Evaluating — Trees inoculated in June of 2024 will be evaluated by TACF scientists to see how well they fared against the fungus.
Roguing — From May through October any trees that succumbed to the blight will be cut down and removed from the seed orchards, leaving more room for the other trees.
Pollinating — In July or August, volunteers will transfer pollen collected from our more promising trees to the blooming flowers of other high performing chestnuts.
Harvesting — In the fall we’ll gather nuts from pure American chestnuts and any hand pollinated “best by best” crosses. The narrow harvest window is usually September 25 through October 10.
Husking— A couple weeks after harvest, it’s all hands on husks to open the spiny burs (with tough gloves) to reveal 2-3 delicious, sweet nuts tucked inside. Hot cider, roasting chestnuts and lively conversation remind us why volunteering is so rewarding.
Learn more about Volunteering
Time is our most precious resource to give. At TACF we treat your time like a valuable gift to the future. Opportunities abound for volunteers, even those who don’t love field work. Take this easy first step: Sign up to volunteer. Our volunteer coordinator will contact you to help you find a good fit for your skills and interests.
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National Facebook
Check out this informative short video by the Georgia Chapter! It shows you how we process catkins and store pollen for chestnut breeding.
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Amazing work being done by the Kentucky Chapter! If you want to participate in this amazing work, they are having another field work day on June 16th, where they will be doing controlled pollinations. No experience required!
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June is packed with activities! There are numerous provisional field work projects that haven’t yet been added to the Event Calendar. If you’re interested in participating in your Chapter's planting, pollination, and various field tasks, please contact them to express your enthusiasm. Additionally, consider subscribing to their newsletter, which regularly provides updates on upcoming events.
Check out our event calendar: tacf.org/events/category/tacf/
#events #fieldwork #americanchestnut #nonprofit #volunteer
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Barbara Stovall
The USDA has announced its desire to shut down or repurpose the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), putting TACF’s important chestnut orchard at risk.
This orchard is especially valuable because the trees are growing in soil naturally affected by Phytophthora root rot (PRR), allowing researchers to evaluate disease resistance under real-world conditions. It includes predominantly American chestnut hybrids that have shown promising resistance and could soon provide a vital source of seed for restoration efforts.
We are asking members and volunteers to contact their representatives in Congress and urge continued access to BARC to help preserve this irreplaceable research and restoration resource.
#americanchestnut #contactcongress #calltoaction #conservation #environment
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Does the blight that affects the American chestnut live in the soil or is it airborne? I own several acres that once was a surface coal mine. The reclaimed soil is void of microbes (some consider it sterile). Empress trees grow on it, as well as many native species that don’t do so well in a mature forest. I’d like to try chestnut but not sure if it’s worth the investment.
That is a Chinese chestnut not an American chestnut
I hope they keep it open. These orchard are so important for forest restoration efforts. I created one for Butternut.
It was so much fun to get out and nature and be a part of a community. Volunteer and check out events with your state Chapter to see what you have been missing!
Click the link in our bio to visit the "Volunteer" and "Events Calendar" links under "Get Engaged"
#explore #getinvolved #volunteer #americanchestnut #conservation
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Excellent, Maryland TACF, Maryland Maryland Chestnut Festival