Georgia News

GA-TACF Annual Meeting May 13 2023

Calling all Georgia American Chestnut enthusiasts!

The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (GA-TACF) will hold its annual state meeting on May 13th, 2023, in Dahlonega. The meeting will be held at the University of North Georgia Health and Natural Sciences Auditorium, starting at 10AM. There is no charge to attend and the meeting is open to the public. There are a lot of exciting things happening in the chestnut research world at the moment!

The agenda will include a summary of the chestnut story and ongoing restoration efforts, and an update on the most recent science activities. Dr. Scott Merkle from the Warnell School of Forestry at UGA will give us an update on his chestnut research in Athens, including his chestnut cloning and genetic engineering efforts to develop blight resistant chestnuts using Georgia parent trees. We will also be screening TACF’s brand new documentary film, Clear Day Thunder: Rescuing the American Chestnut, featuring appearances by former President Jimmy Carter, Dolly Parton, and Chuck Leavell. Here’s a link to the film’s official trailer – https://www.rescuingtheamericanchestnut.com/

After lunch, we will (optionally) carpool to see the new UNG Hurricane Creek test orchard, about 10 minutes west of campus. More agenda details are available on the Eventbrite registration page.

Please register for the event using the Eventbrite link below. Also. we are making available box lunches ($14) for pre-order via the Eventbrite registration process. Lunch orders will be accepted only through Sunday, May 7th. Registration is not strictly necessary to attend, but it will help us with our event preparations. No personal information will be shared.

Meeting street address: Health and Natural Sciences Building, 2nd floor, 159 Sunset Drive, Dahlonega, GA, 30597. Signs will be placed to direct you to parking.

Registration link:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/american-chestnut-foundation-georgia-chapter-annual-meeting-tickets-598501452957

Jack Rogers, GA-TACF President

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2023 GA-TACF, All rights reserved.

Our mailing address is:
Dept. of Biology, P.O. Box 430
2277 Martha Berry Highway
Mount Berry, GA 30149

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Did you know that private landowners - even homeowners with a big backyard - can help support GA-TACF by planting trees on our behalf? Here are just two examples, one a two year old tree planted in Paul Burks' backyard in Atlanta and one a 6 year old tree planted in Scott Frazier's Bottomlands orchard near Taylorsville. Looking good guys!

Read more about planting trees with us here: tacf.org/ga-news/so-you-want-to-plant-some-chestnuts/

The American Chestnut Foundation
Berry College
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Did you know that private landowners - even homeowners with a big backyard - can help support GA-TACF by planting trees on our behalf? Here are just two examples, one a two year old tree planted in Paul Burks backyard in Atlanta and one a 6 year old tree planted in Scott Fraziers Bottomlands orchard near Taylorsville. Looking good guys!Read more about planting trees with us here: https://tacf.org/ga-news/so-you-want-to-plant-some-chestnuts/The American Chestnut Foundation Berry CollegeImage attachment

2 CommentsComment on Facebook

Beautiful form on that second tree

I have room to plant American Chestnut trees! I would definitely plant them, just tell me how to get them.

We want to thank all of the volunteers who helped us this pollination season which is now complete! We were able to bag and pollinate 10 different trees (a record for or us) plus we collected pollen from a number of other trees. This work is crucial for our Best X Best (or RGS) chestnut disease resistance breeding program. Altogether, over the past three weeks, we have had 20 different volunteers plus several more who volunteered but had their shifts cancelled due to weather. We thank all of you! GA-TACF is an all-volunteer organization except for a few interns that are obligated to certain orchard sites (Flint, Hurricane Creek).

Our next major volunteer efforts will start in mid-September when we will harvest and shuck burs and tabulate our harvest. Please stay tuned for announcements about these opportunities! Click here to register to volunteer with us or to sign the volunteer waiver form if you have not already done so: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170

Here are a few more photos of our final two days when we were assisted by Berry College students who are working in Dr. Adrienne Ernst's lab this summer.

The American Chestnut Foundation
Berry College
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We want to thank all of the volunteers who helped us this pollination season which is now complete!  We were able to bag and pollinate 10 different trees (a record for or us) plus we collected pollen from a number of other trees.  This work is crucial for our Best X Best (or RGS) chestnut disease resistance breeding program.  Altogether, over the past three weeks, we have had 20 different volunteers plus several more who volunteered but had their shifts cancelled due to weather.  We thank all of you!  GA-TACF is an all-volunteer organization except for a few interns that are obligated to certain orchard sites (Flint, Hurricane Creek).  Our next major volunteer efforts will start in mid-September when we will harvest and shuck burs and tabulate our harvest.  Please stay tuned for announcements about these opportunities! Click here to register to volunteer with us or to sign the volunteer waiver form if you have not already done so: https://theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170Here are a few more photos of our final two days when we were assisted by Berry College students who are working in Dr. Adrienne Ernsts lab this summer.The American Chestnut FoundationBerry CollegeImage attachmentImage attachment+3Image attachment

1 CommentComment on Facebook

Great photos...wish I were there to help with this....I got experience operating one of those boon lifts last year!

Here is a short YouTube video showing how we process catkins and store pollen for chestnut breeding purposes. Pollens processed like this are being used in this summer's Best X Best breeding program.

We are still looking for assistance from chapter volunteers for this program!

Volunteers need not have experience; essential safety and pollination training will be provided at the start of each shift. Our next dates will be Tuesday June 9 and Wednesday June 10 (9 am - noon, and 1 - 5 pm shifts). We can only pollinate when it is not raining, but despite the chance of rain on those days we need to make an attempt at it. Our fallback "rain delay" date will be Thursday June 11. Harvest will take place in September and October when we again will need volunteer help.

If you have not already registered to volunteer with GA-TACF, please do so here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=99170

After you have registered, please sign up for pollination shifts here: theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=113887

I hope you will be able to help!

The American Chestnut Foundation Berry College
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Video image

1 CommentComment on Facebook

Great video, Martin! Interesting and informative!

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