Indiana News

Indiana Chapter Annual Meeting

This year the Indiana Chapter of TACF will hold an in-person annual meeting. The date is January 14, 2023. The location is the Fitness Farm of Indianapolis. Our chapter science officer, Jim McKenna, has generously arranged for us to use a room at Fitness Farm at no cost to the chapter.

The meeting will begin at 11:00 AM ET and be over around 3:00 PM ET. Fitness Farm is located centrally in the state of Indiana so it is our hope that members from both the north and south will be able to attend. Locating the venue is easy with GPS. We will put up several signs at the Fitness Farm to aid in finding the meeting room, which is called “Scholarship Hall.”

Fitness Farm Indianapolis
2525 W 44th Street Indianapolis, IN 46228

Jim will give a detailed presentation of chestnut breeding, grafting, pollinating and growing that he has been working hard on. The chapter has made great progress in several areas and Jim will give reports on all of his work. There are a number of chapter projects that will require volunteers to complete and we will discuss those and hopefully recruit volunteers for these.

We may also have another guest speaker.

Lunch will be served around noon.

With any questions, call Glenn Kotnik, Indiana Chapter president, at (317) 459-4443, or call Jim McKenna at (765) 775-6693.

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Have a great photo of an American chestnut tree, bloom, bur, leaf, restoration planting, volunteer event, or wildlife interaction? We'd love to see it! (Photo pictured taken by 2025 2rd place winner Eric Sizemore)

First Place receives:
- Their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine
- A one-year TACF Seed Level Membership (a $300 value!)
- TACF merchandise

Second and Third Place winners will receive:
- TACF swag
- Recognition alongside the first-place winner in the 2027 Spring/Summer issue of Chestnut.

Submit your entries by December 31, 2026.

Visit the following link for more information and complete submission details: tacf.org/2026-photo-contest/

#AmericanChestnut #PhotoContest #TACF #ChestnutMagazine #ConservationPhotography #ForestRestoration #NaturePhotography
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Have a great photo of an American chestnut tree, bloom, bur, leaf, restoration planting, volunteer event, or wildlife interaction? Wed love to see it! (Photo pictured taken by 2025 2rd place winner Eric Sizemore)First Place receives: - Their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine- A one-year TACF Seed Level Membership (a $300 value!) - TACF merchandiseSecond and Third Place winners will receive: - TACF swag - Recognition alongside the first-place winner in the 2027 Spring/Summer issue of Chestnut.Submit your entries by December 31, 2026.Visit the following link for more information and complete submission details: https://tacf.org/2026-photo-contest/ #AmericanChestnut #PhotoContest #TACF #ChestnutMagazine #ConservationPhotography #ForestRestoration #NaturePhotography

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Josh Roudebush win it all bro I might know a few big boys for the shot

A bee enjoying a well deserved break after the chestnut pollination period. The tree it rests on is a hybrid castanea pumila x alabamensis (dwarf chestnut x Alabama chinquapin). ... See MoreSee Less

A bee enjoying a well deserved break after the chestnut pollination period. The tree it rests on is a hybrid castanea pumila x alabamensis (dwarf chestnut x Alabama chinquapin).Image attachmentImage attachment

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Voles got my chestnut, planted spring 2025

August Events! Double check with your states Chapter about events in your area.

Visit the following link for more information on the events: tacf.org/events/category/tacf/

#americanchestnut #Connecticut #NorthCarolina #SouthCarolina #getinvolved
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August Events! Double check with your states Chapter about events in your area. Visit the following link for more information on the events: https://tacf.org/events/category/tacf/ #americanchestnut #Connecticut #NorthCarolina #SouthCarolina #getinvolvedImage attachmentImage attachment

In a recent article for The Conversation, Dr. Steve Strauss discusses how advances in genomics and biotechnology are creating new opportunities to support chestnut restoration.

We're pleased to see perspectives from a longtime TACF collaborator. Steve served on our Science Advisory Review Committee in 2018 and currently has a pending proposal with TACF to improve genetic transformation methods for chestnut.

Give the article a read and let us know what part of chestnut restoration you're most excited about: theconversation.com/new-genetic-approaches-raise-hopes-for-restoring-the-american-chestnut-to-its...
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In a recent article for The Conversation, Dr. Steve Strauss discusses how advances in genomics and biotechnology are creating new opportunities to support chestnut restoration.Were pleased to see perspectives from a longtime TACF collaborator. Steve served on our Science Advisory Review Committee in 2018 and currently has a pending proposal with TACF to improve genetic transformation methods for chestnut.Give the article a read and let us know what part of chestnut restoration youre most excited about: https://theconversation.com/new-genetic-approaches-raise-hopes-for-restoring-the-american-chestnut-to-its-former-glory-282125

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Somewhere, waiting discovery deep inside the remote part of a forest towers a thriving blight resistant nut filled American Chestnut (surrounded by dead ones just so we know it was exposed and surviving). We can hope. Taking inspiration from the Dogwood saga.

Professors at S.U.N.Y E.S.F put a wheat gene in to Chestnuts years ago and have growing them

I thought the blight only killed the tree above the ground and not the root system that's why the chestnut resprouts and grows until it gets a scar on it and the blight kills the sprouted tree back down to the ground leaving more viable root system to sprout again in the future.

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Unlike most forest trees that rely mostly on wind, American chestnuts recruit insects too.

#americanchestnut #EnvironmentalEducation #pollinator #nativetrees #dronefootage
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Okay, who was in our Monocacy Orchard. MDTACF.

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