Greenville, SC—Dr. Joe James of Seneca, SC may not have been a Boy Scout himself, but when the Scouts came calling last year about getting an American chestnut tree planted in Greenville, they knew that Joe was their man. Joe, a longtime member of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) and retired orthopedic surgeon, has spent much of his time helping bring back the American chestnut tree since retiring several years ago.
Nearly 500 Boy Scouts from the upstate area, family members and troop leaders recently attended the planting of two American chestnut trees at the Upstate Historical Museum to help celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts.
James is helping lead the effort in South Carolina to return the chestnut to its native forests in the Upstate. The American chestnut once thrived in the Greenville area and was the dominant hardwood in local forests. However, a deadly blight accidentally imported from Asia in the early 1900s killed nearly four billion American chestnut trees in the eastern part of the United States in the short span of 50 years.
The trees planted are two of just 85 survivors of a scientific experiment that involves breeding American chestnut trees for resistance to several diseases. James selected these 85 from an initial 1,500 trees. The young saplings planted are expected to resist not only the deadly chestnut blight but also Phytopthora cinnamomi (root-rot), a disease that is especially deadly to the American chestnut tree. The American chestnut was once abundant in upstate South Carolina but chestnut blight and root-rot teamed together to decimate the chestnut tree population.
“Phytopthora is actually a bigger threat to the chestnut tree in our area,” said James. “It has been around since the early 1800s and attacks the entire root system of the tree. It’s very common in the southeastern region. Chestnut trees that have been bred for resistance to the root-rot only have about a 3% chance of long-term survival once they are infected with the disease.”
James has screened trees for root-rot every year since 2004 and his work is beginning to pay off with the planting of these saplings at the museum.
TACF is continuing to support James’ work on producing American chestnut trees that can fight off root-rot. For more information about supporting this work and bringing an American icon back to the Upstate visit www.tacf.org or contact James directly at (864) 972-1122.
The American Chestnut Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)-3 organization with more than 5,500 members around the world and chapters in 17 states. Founded in 1983, its sole mission is to restore the American chestnut to its native eastern forests. Please call (828) 281-0047 for ways to get involved with chestnut restoration.
