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2013 CT CHAPTER ANNUAL MEETING

dekovenpicJoin us on Saturday April 6th for the Annual Meeting of the CT Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation at the Rockfall Foundation’s deKoven House in Middletown, CT. We will have two great presenters in the morning and an afternoon field trip ? we hope you’ll mark your calendar and join us! If you plan to attend, you MUST RSVP by calling Kendra Gurney at 802.951.6771 x1350 or sending her an e-mail gro.fca@ardnekta.

We have been approved to offer qualified attendees 2.5 CEU hours of credit in the following licensing categories: Forest Pest Management (category 2), Arborist (category 3D) and Demonstration and Research (category 10). Submission forms and sign-up will be available at the meeting. For further information please contact gro.fca@ardnek.

Simply looking for directions? See the Rockfall Foundation’s website or download the brochure with map in easily printable format.

annualmeetingannouncement_2013

Leila Pinchot, Photo: Matt Wilson

Leila Pinchot, Photo: Matt Wilson

Topic: Reintroducing American Chestnut to the Northeast – Some Thoughts

Leila Pinchot is a Research Fellow at the Pinchot Institute for Conservation in Milford, PA. She will discuss early results from an American chestnut reintroduction study on the Milford Experimental Forest in eastern Pennsylvania, in the context of reintroducing chestnut to private forestlands in the Northeast. She will also briefly discuss two upcoming chestnut reintroduction studies she is developing.

Leila received her Ph.D. in Natural Resources from The University of Tennessee, her Masters of Forestry from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, and her B.A. from Oberlin College. She has worked on American chestnut restoration research and outreach in various capacities over the past ten years.

For more information about our speaker, visit the Pinchot Institute for Conservation’s website.

Star Childs

Star Childs

Topic: The History of American Chestnut Restoration Research at Great Mountain Forest and What Recovery of the Species Might Mean for CT Forests

Starling Childs is a is a private forestry consultant with the firm of EECOS Ecological Consultants (EECOS), and also serves as the President of the Great Mountain Forest Corporation (GMF), a private operating foundation in Norfolk, CT, established for forestry research and education. He will speak about the early history and unsuccessful efforts to establish out-plantings of chestnut at GMF, as well as the more recent establishment of a CT-TACF chestnut orchard on a part of the property. In addition, he will discuss the important niches that chestnut once provided in the southern New England forest ecosystem and what the eventual recovery of this species might mean for the sustainable future of our forests.

Star received a BS in Geology and Natural Resources from Yale College and a Masters in Forest Science from Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies. He has maintained a lifelong association with Yale’s forestry and environmental students and faculty who continue to visit GMF every year in order to navigate and discover the mysteries and intricacies of Connecticut’s forested landscapes.

For more information about our speaker, visit the EECOS website or the Great Mountain Forest website.

Rockfall Parking Map

Rockfall Parking Map

The presentations will immediately follow a short annual business meeting where we will run Officer and Board Member elections. Members are encouraged to attend.

Agenda
9:30am Opening Reception
10:00am Annual Business Meeting and Elections
10:30am Introduction and Speakers
12:00pm Lunch (Attendees MUST RSVP)
1:00pm Tour of Middletown Orchard
2:30pm Expected close of Meeting

The program is free to both members and non-members, as is lunch for those who advance register. To advance register e-mail to indicate your interest in attending.

We thank the Rockfall Foundation for providing the venue for the presentations.

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Did you know some plants actually benefit from fire? Recently burned areas often provide the sunlight and reduced competition that species like blueberries and American chestnuts need to flourish.

#americanchestnut #nativeplants #ForestEcology #conservation #NatureEducation
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4 CommentsComment on Facebook

Yes! Across the Eastern US, almost all of our most important keystone , overstory trees are fire adapted (pyrophytic 🔥). (Except in bottomlands/riparian/wetland zones, for the most part). This includes Hickories, the upland Oaks, certain pines, especially Longleaf, and Chestnuts. Many Oaks in particular are struggling with recruitment now due to fire suppression, among many other issues. This process is called mesophycation btw. Mesophytic natives like Maples 're-engineer' forests through their dense, moist leaf litter to retard-fires. Invasives make it worse. This is important because Oaks are THE top keystone plants here, hosting more species of Lepidoptera (Moths and Butterflies) than any other plant genus in the US: 500-900 species. Most of these caterpillars will become inconspicuous "little brown moths" , but they form an important massive bottom-tier of the food pyramid. After all, even though birds can source berries from a variety of plants , it takes 6-9000 caterpillars to raise a single clutch of songbirds.

I really appreciate what you are doing.

Thank you!

PICA, the Printing Industry of the Carolinas Awards, is celebrating its 60th year as the ultimate showcase of excellence in printing, and TACF has something to celebrate too.

Our partner in printing (BP Solutions Group) has entered Chestnut magazine in this competition for nearly 10 years and of those, TACF, BP, and designer Lisa Alford have received an award nearly every year, some of which included multiple awards within the same year!

Chestnut once again received a PICA Award for the 2025 competition, winning “Best of Category” for its “Sheetfed Magazine Series.” TACF is thrilled to have received this honor and to celebrate it with you!

Want to see what this award-winning magazine is all about? Become a member!

#americanchestnut #magazine #science #forestecology #explore
... See MoreSee Less

PICA, the Printing Industry of the Carolinas Awards, is celebrating its 60th year as the ultimate showcase of excellence in printing, and TACF has something to celebrate too. Our partner in printing (BP Solutions Group) has entered Chestnut magazine in this competition for nearly 10 years and of those, TACF, BP, and designer Lisa Alford have received an award nearly every year, some of which included multiple awards within the same year! Chestnut once again received a PICA Award for the 2025 competition, winning “Best of Category” for its “Sheetfed Magazine Series.” TACF is thrilled to have received this honor and to celebrate it with you!Want to see what this award-winning magazine is all about? Become a member!#americanchestnut #magazine #science #forestecology  #exploreImage attachmentImage attachment

1 CommentComment on Facebook

Big congratulations to you Jules! 🎉🎉 This is a well-deserved honor.

We've prepared a completely legitimate and highly scientific quiz.

Take the quiz, then drop your results in the comments:

🤓 Confidently Wrong
🌱 Chestnut Curious
🌰 Chestnut Expert

#AmericanChestnut #TreeID #ForestEducation #ChestnutTrees #NativeTrees
... See MoreSee Less

Weve prepared a completely legitimate and highly scientific quiz.Take the quiz, then drop your results in the comments:🤓 Confidently Wrong 🌱 Chestnut Curious 🌰 Chestnut Expert#AmericanChestnut #TreeID #ForestEducation #ChestnutTrees #NativeTreesImage attachmentImage attachment+7Image attachment

5 CommentsComment on Facebook

I got 3 out of 4!

I got a 4 on this.

🌱

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Just a few years apart: the same wild American chestnut tree before and after chestnut blight took its toll.

Enter our 2026 Photo Contest from now until the end of December!

#americanchestnut #chestnutblight #ForestEcology #NativeSpecies #ForestConservation
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Just a few years apart: the same wild American chestnut tree before and after chestnut blight took its toll. Enter our 2026 Photo Contest from now until the end of December! #AmericanChestnut #ChestnutBlight #ForestEcology #NativeSpecies #ForestConservationImage attachmentImage attachment+1Image attachment

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