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VATACF Annual Membership Meeting, Bedford, VA
November 16, 2019 @ 1:00 pm - 5:00 pm
The Virginia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation will conduct its annual membership meeting on Saturday, November 16, 2019, at Claytor Nature Center in Bedford. The meeting is open to the public and members are especially invited to attend.
The meeting begins at 1:00. Our special guest is Dr. Jason Holliday, Associate Professor, Department of Forest Resources and Environmental Conservation, Virginia Tech. Dr. Holiday’s topic is Genomic Tools to Accelerate Chestnut Restoration. Following his talk, we will tour the chestnut Germplasm Conservation orchard maintained by Claytor Nature Center.
The technological changes in environmental sciences are coming so fast, and are so dramatic, that the breeding program of The American Chestnut Foundation can hardly keep up. And yet, keep up we must.
In addition to Dr. Holliday’s presentation, chapter president John Scrivani will report on the status of the Virginia chestnut breeding program and related activities during the year.
A germplasm conservation orchard is an orchard containing only wild-type American chestnuts. While it is still possible to see wild American chestnut in our forests, the numbers continue to decline, so conserving the genetic material becomes increasingly important. With proper care, American chestnuts can live to sexual maturity and produce fertile nuts. The Virginia chapter has four of these orchards now: this is your chance to see one of them.
The Virginia Chapter Board of Directors will be conducting its fall board of directors meeting at Claytor Nature Center before the public program. This meeting is also open to all members.
The Claytor Nature Center is part of the University of Lynchburg. It serves as an education and research center for environmental study and to preserve the land for future generations. The 18th century farm and plantation house were given to the University by A. Boyd Claytor, III; an additional 21 acres were donated by alumnus Bob Kibler.
The GPS address of the Center is 1844 Woods Road, Bedford, VA 24523.
