Sally Sears clears an area to plant a tree.
Mark Stoakes, GA Chapter board member, marshaled the Georgia Chapter forces on February 20 to plant about 16 American chestnut and six Ozark and Allegheny chinkapin seedlings along the Confluence Trail in Atlanta. Joining the crew was Sally Sears, a local newscaster with TV Channel 46 in Atlanta. Sally is a key driver with the Southfork Conservancy, a community volunteer organization dedicated to the preservation and restoration of trailsides and embankments at Peachtree Creek confluence site. The planting site is just across the creek from the infamous Interstate 85 fire and bridge collapse that occurred just one year ago.
The Confluence Trail is suited for chestnut restoration initiatives, with good soil moisture and protection from development. These factors bode well for Mark’s chestnut and chinkapin seedlings to survive and hopefully thrive in an urban setting, alongside their companion native tree species that the Conservancy has carefully shepherded. Sally has invited us to present TACF’s “chestnut story” at future meetings of the Southfork Conservancy and other civic organizations with which she is engaged.