Connecticut News
Wigwam Brook Test Orchard
By Bill Adamsen [click for larger photo] In December of 2008, John Baker, a member of long standing in both Litchfield Hills Audubon (LHA) and the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) called to chat about a new property Litchfield Hills Audubon had recently acquired....
A Thin Slice of Chestnut
Written by Bill Adamsen CT Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation Yesterday a most unusual and welcome gift arrived in the mail. A micro-thin slice of American chestnut embedded between thin panels in a sandwich of glass, and described by its sender as a Magic...
Evolutionary History of American Castanea species
Professor Fenny Dane, PhD Department of Horticulture Auburn University [click to enlarge] Figure 1. Distribution of vegetation on US continent 18,000 years ago during the last ice age The geographical range and distribution of a plant species is dependent on its...
Chestnut Research Orchard for Middletown
The Honorable Sebastian N. Giuliano, Mayor of Middletown, today signed land-use and germ-plasm agreements with the Connecticut Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation. With these agreements in place, CT-TACF will collaborate with the Middletown Urban Forestry...
Visit to Aton Forest
By Sara Fitzsimmons Regional Science Coordinator The American Chestnut Foundation On Saturday, April 25, several representatives from The American Chestnut Foundations (TACF) met at Aton Forest to discuss details of a summer project that is to be taken on by the...
Appalachia Series on PBS
PBS has put out a series, Appalachia: A History of Mountains and People, which features American chestnut in the final segment. This segment, Power and Place, is airing this weekend, though from what I found, at some inopportune times. Thought members might be...
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National Facebook
Have a great photo of an American chestnut tree, bloom, bur, leaf, restoration planting, volunteer event, or wildlife interaction? We'd love to see it! (Photo pictured taken by 2025 2rd place winner Eric Sizemore)
First Place receives:
- Their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine
- A one-year TACF Seed Level Membership (a $300 value!)
- TACF merchandise
Second and Third Place winners will receive:
- TACF swag
- Recognition alongside the first-place winner in the 2027 Spring/Summer issue of Chestnut.
Submit your entries by December 31, 2026.
Visit the following link for more information and complete submission details: tacf.org/2026-photo-contest/
#AmericanChestnut #PhotoContest #TACF #ChestnutMagazine #ConservationPhotography #ForestRestoration #NaturePhotography
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Josh Roudebush win it all bro I might know a few big boys for the shot
A bee enjoying a well deserved break after the chestnut pollination period. The tree it rests on is a hybrid castanea pumila x alabamensis (dwarf chestnut x Alabama chinquapin).
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Voles got my chestnut, planted spring 2025
August Events! Double check with your states Chapter about events in your area.
Visit the following link for more information on the events: tacf.org/events/category/tacf/
#americanchestnut #Connecticut #NorthCarolina #SouthCarolina #getinvolved
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In a recent article for The Conversation, Dr. Steve Strauss discusses how advances in genomics and biotechnology are creating new opportunities to support chestnut restoration.
We're pleased to see perspectives from a longtime TACF collaborator. Steve served on our Science Advisory Review Committee in 2018 and currently has a pending proposal with TACF to improve genetic transformation methods for chestnut.
Give the article a read and let us know what part of chestnut restoration you're most excited about: theconversation.com/new-genetic-approaches-raise-hopes-for-restoring-the-american-chestnut-to-its...
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Somewhere, waiting discovery deep inside the remote part of a forest towers a thriving blight resistant nut filled American Chestnut (surrounded by dead ones just so we know it was exposed and surviving). We can hope. Taking inspiration from the Dogwood saga.
Professors at S.U.N.Y E.S.F put a wheat gene in to Chestnuts years ago and have growing them
I thought the blight only killed the tree above the ground and not the root system that's why the chestnut resprouts and grows until it gets a scar on it and the blight kills the sprouted tree back down to the ground leaving more viable root system to sprout again in the future.
Unlike most forest trees that rely mostly on wind, American chestnuts recruit insects too.
#americanchestnut #EnvironmentalEducation #pollinator #nativetrees #dronefootage
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Okay, who was in our Monocacy Orchard. MDTACF.