The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is breeding chestnut trees for ability to survive the blight disease, which killed almost all our native American chestnut. TACF?s goal is to confer on American chestnut the ability to thrive in our nation?s woodlands, as it once did. Last fall, TACF began harvesting nuts that it expects will be suitable for planting back into the forest. However, these breeding lines are still in the testing phase and their value needs to be proven on many forest sites until 2015 to 2020.
A gradual increase in seed production is expected over the next few years. These will be distributed to cooperators who are assisting in a formal, rigorous testing program. In addition, seeds that are not needed for this purpose will be distributed principally to members of TACF for informal testing. At the same time, TACF is continuing its breeding program to make further gains in disease resistance and forest competitiveness.
