Research and Breeding
Here is information and some links to the types of research and breeding activities that GA-TACF supports.
Mother Trees
Chapter members spend hours searching the mountains and hillsides of Georgia for American chestnut root sprouts that can be placed into our breeding program. One of the Chapter’s first pure American chestnut trees was found on Springer Mountain by Thomas Fowler and placed in the breeding program during the Chapter’s first breeding season. Since then many other trees have been located with the “Klaus” tree near Warm Springs bringing attention world wide as the most southern tree in the piedmont area.
Without the help of volunteers identifying new trees, our breeding program would come to a halt. Each “mother tree” can only be used to cross with one type of resistant pollen from TACF’s Meadowview Research Farm to produce about 100 backcross trees. This is usually accomplished within 2 years. The more trees we find, the more diverse the gene pool will become.
Orchards
Once nuts are harvested from the resulting backcrosses a suitable orchard must be located to plant them. Berry College was the first to offer a site that would house over 200 trees. The University of Georgia’s Mountain Research and Education Center in Blairsville became our second backcross orchard. Since then we have received many offers for orchard sites that are now in the testing stage. We test for soil suitability, predator protection and overall tree care to determine the best locations for advanced backcross trees. If you are interested in hosting a backcross or demonstration orchard, please contact us at gro.fca@retpahcag.
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The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (GA-TACF) Annual Meeting
GA-TACF will hold its annual meeting on May 2, starting at 9:30 AM at Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center in Buford, GA. The meeting is open to both chapter members and the general public.
Although we willl briefly address some business matters, most of the meeting will be devoted to presentations related to our work helping to restore American chestnuts in GA. Among the business items is the election of directors for the board. The board hereby invites nominations for director positions which should include the candidate’s contact information, a brief biographical sketch, and a summary of why the candidate appears well-suited for board service.
Please register your attendance by reserving admission via the Eventbrite link below. More details about the meeting will be added there. Pre-registration is free, however, lunch orders ($15 + tax) must be made using the Eventbrite site (no later than April 30). Lunch will be at nearby Cloudland Vineyards + Winery
To register, click on the Eventbrite Link www.eventbrite.com/e/georgia-chapter-of-the-american-chestnut-foundation-annual-meeting-tickets-1...
Agenda:
9:30 am Doors open, Coffee and Meet-and-Greet in Founders Hall
Morning session, 10 AM – NOON
1) 10:00 am. Welcome and Introduction by Chapter President Dr. Martin Cipollini )
2) 10:15 am. Chapter business meeting:
a) Election of chapter directors, Scott Laseter (Governance Committee chair)
b) Budget report, Vince Payne (Treasurer)
3) 10:45 am. An update from TACF's CEO Michael Goergen and introduction of Zach Anderson as our new Southern Regional Science Coordinator.
4) 11:15 am. Science updates, Dr. Martin Cipollini (President and Science Coordinator)
a) A Brief Overview of the American Chestnut and GA-TACF's work
b) Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS): What is it?
c) Selection for Phytophthora root rot (PRR) resistance in Georgia.
5) 12:00 noon. Lunch directions
Lunch break and Afternoon Session, 12:30 - ? at Cloudland Vineyards
1) Pre-ordered box lunches will be delivered to nearby Cloudland Vineyards. Tickets for box lunches must be purchased via this Eventbrite site by April 30. Select type of box lunch after completing payment during checkout. See details below. *
2) Tour of Cloudland Vineyards and recently planted chestnuts. Overview of how to grow and maintain chestnuts.
3) GA-TACF board members will meet at the end of the day to hold a brief in-person meeting.
We hope to see you there! Please help spread the word.
Dr. Martin Cipollini
GA-TACF President
Bistro Box sandwiches, cold, come with chips and freshly baked cookie:
a) Chicken salad croissant
b) Turkey and Provolone Sandwich
c) Chicken, Swiss, and Pesto Sandwich
d) Pesto Caprese Sandwich
Salad box lunches, served with a mini sea salt baguette and freshly baked cookie
a) Cranberry Pecan Salad with Balsamic dressing
b) Spinach Salad with strawberries, feta, bacon, pecans and a French Vinaigrette dressing
c) Classic Caesar Salad with croutons, Caesar dressing, and Parmesan
The American Chestnut Foundation
Gwinnett Environmental & Heritage Center Foundation
Cloudland Vineyards + Winery
Georgia – About Us | The American Chestnut Foundation
www.tacf.org
Georgia – About Us Jul 28, 2021 Contact us at gro.fcat@retpahCAG About Us Our Mission Our mission is to bring about the restoration of the American chestnut tree as a prominent part of Georgia fores...0 CommentsComment on Facebook
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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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.
Dr. Martin Cipollini, President and Science Coordinator of The Georgia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation, presented an overview of the organization's Recurrent Genomic Selection (RGS) chestnut breeding program during the Tennessee chapter's annual meeting at Tennessee Tech, subsequently chairing the Southern Regional Science meeting held in conjunction with the TN-TACF meeting. At the latter meeting, chapter leaders discussed how to cooperate to implement RGS regionally and initiated plans for the coming breeding season. They also welcomed newly hired TACF Regional Science Coordinator Zach Anderson who has been working with Dr. Hill Craddock at the University of Tennessee - Chattanooga. Zach's office will be located in Chattanooga. The American Chestnut Foundation
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