CT-TACF Presentation on the Restoration of The American Chestnut sponsored by The White Memorial Conservation Center

Jack Swatt stands next to a wild American chestnut tree in Seymour, CT

CT-TACF Presentation on the Restoration of The American Chestnut sponsored by The White Memorial Conservation Center

More than a century ago, nearly 4 billion American chestnut trees were growing in the eastern U.S. They were among the largest, tallest, and fastest-growing trees. The wood was rot-resistant, straight-grained, and suitable for furniture, fencing, and building. The nuts fed billions of birds and animals. It was almost a perfect tree, that is, until a blight fungus killed it more than a century ago. The chestnut blight has been called the greatest ecological disaster to strike the world’s forests in all of history. The American chestnut tree survived all adversaries for 40 million years, then disappeared within 40. Jack Swatt, President of the Connecticut Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation provides an overview of the history, value, blight impact, and revival of this iconic tree.

10:00 a.m., A. B. Ceder Room, FREE…Donations will be accepted to help defray the Conservation Center’s programming expenses. Please pre-register online: American Chestnut Registration