Hello Georgia Chestnut Enthusiasts! Another volunteer opportunity... this one is pretty urgent.
We need your help with an upgrade to our chestnut orchard in Dahlonega. Hurricane Creek is a collaborative project with the University of North Georgia Biology Department and is being used to test for resistance to Phytophthora cinnamomi (black root rot disease). The orchard is progressing well, with over 100 trees in place, but we have been unsuccessful keeping the deer at bay with our electric fence. We have decided it's time to install a deer exclusion fence, similar that used at our Flint and Richards orchards. Please let us know if you can join us on for a morning shift or two to help install the fence - see dates and times. The fence goes up pretty easily and no special skills are needed. We'll provide all materials and tools, along with water and snacks.
If you can help out, please bring the following:
Hat, sunscreen, insect repellent.
Work gloves.
Water, sack lunch if desired.
Because of the heat, we'll get started each day at 8AM, and work until the heat runs us off.
Hurricane Creek is located on GA Highway 9, between Dawsonville and Dahlonega. The address is 3990 Dawsonville Hwy, Dahlonega GA, 30597. On Google Maps, maps.app.goo.gl/eTMeKLwPBEtqi2y76.
Below are the shifts for volunteers for the fence installation. Please use this link to sign up (orchard maintenance tab): theamericanchestnutfoundation.volunteerlocal.com/volunteer/?id=90470
Friday, 7/25/2025, 8AM - noon(ish), site prep work, install corner posts, layout posts, clear brush in a few areas, relocate some of the existing electric fence.
Saturday, 7/26/2025, 8AM - noon(ish), install posts, layout tarp between posts, install top polyline, install fence fabric, install bottom fabric anchors, install door.
Sunday, 7/27/2025, 8AM - noon(ish), install bottom 2' mesh, finish up.
The American Chestnut Foundation
UNG - University of North Georgia
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Marty Cipollini, TACF’s GA-Chapter science coordinator and professor of biology at Berry College in Rome, GA is working diligently with the help of others to revive the American chestnut through painstaking development of potentially blight-resistant trees.
