Georgia News

The Flint Orchard Planting is Done!

About 20 volunteers got down and dirty at the Flint chestnut orchard on Saturday, making quick work planting about 400 seedlings between 9 am and 2 pm! Fantastic day and many thanks to everyone who came out to help!

I have included a few photos of the event below.  Note that some of the small seedlings we planted at this time two years ago (upper half of orchard) are already 6 – 8 ft tall!  We will begin screening some of these for blight resistance next summer.

Volunteers included (I hope I didn’t miss anyone): Sarah Reynolds (Ms. Santa), Ken Cissna, Scott Frazier, Joe Nicholson, Ken Marlin, Mike Pilvinsky, Paul Bryant, Doug Hood, Earl Ferguson, David Richterkessing, Steve Wallin, Zach Felix, Jonathan Price, Mike Lloyd, Marshall Lynch (Berry student who shepherded the seedlings and planting supplies to the site), Kathy Patrick, Gerhardt Slawitschka, Kelsey Jordan, Pic Petelle, and me.

We will have two more planting events of similar size in the Feb/March period. In the meantime, our next need for volunteer help will be the collection of scion wood for grafting from wild American chestnuts. Please stay tuned for announcements about these important initiatives in the very near future.

Thanks again volunteers!
Martin Cipollini, GA-TACF Science Coordinator

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On Friday March 6 faculty and staff at the University of North Georgia (UNG) added about 70 chestnuts by direct seeding to the Hurricane Creek orchard near Dahlonega. Karrie Ann Fadroski, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for UNG’s Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) and Stacie James, Program Coordinator for the ELC, were assisted by Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator for GA-TACF as well as several UNG student volunteers. Student participants included Chestnut student intern Lillian McGinnis, Hurricane Creek student intern Jason Richardson, Conservation student intern Reece Maxwell, Kylee Melton, Ava Minor, Mary Alice Olewicz, and Jack Nicholas.

This orchard is designed to screen hybrid chestnuts for Phytophthora Root Rot (PRR) resistance (pure American chestnuts are entirely susceptible to PRR). Seeds selected for this orchard come from trees known or suspected to carry PRR resistance, in this case from two trees at the Berry College backcross orchard. Read elsewhere on our Facebook page about how to protect chestnuts from this lethal disease if you have planted susceptible trees.

To learn more about this work and what you can do to become involved, please come to our annual meeting on May 2 at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford. Details are forthcoming, but the meeting will be held in the morning with lunch and a tour at Cloudland Vineyards in the early afternoon.
The American Chestnut Foundation University of North Georgia Berry College
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On Friday March 6 faculty and staff at the University of North Georgia (UNG) added about 70 chestnuts by direct seeding to the Hurricane Creek orchard near Dahlonega.  Karrie Ann Fadroski, Outreach and Engagement Coordinator for UNG’s Environmental Leadership Center (ELC) and Stacie James, Program Coordinator for the ELC, were assisted by Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator for GA-TACF as well as several UNG student volunteers.  Student participants included Chestnut student intern Lillian McGinnis, Hurricane Creek student intern Jason Richardson, Conservation student intern Reece Maxwell, Kylee Melton, Ava Minor, Mary Alice Olewicz, and Jack Nicholas.This orchard is designed to screen hybrid chestnuts for Phytophthora Root Rot (PRR) resistance (pure American chestnuts are entirely susceptible to PRR).  Seeds selected for this orchard come from trees known or suspected to carry PRR resistance, in this case from two trees at the Berry College backcross orchard.  Read elsewhere on our Facebook page about how to protect chestnuts from this lethal disease if you have planted susceptible trees.To learn more about this work and what you can do to become involved, please come to our annual meeting on May 2 at the Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford.  Details are forthcoming, but the meeting will be held in the morning with lunch and a tour at Cloudland Vineyards in the early afternoon.The American Chestnut Foundation University of North Georgia Berry CollegeImage attachmentImage attachment+7Image attachment

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Hard to believe these students are in their late 30s now...

Coincidentally, exactly 17 years ago on March 6, 2009, Berry College students planted the parents of the seeds planted at UNG. Here are just a couple pictures from that day.

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