A Year of Change
By Mark McCollough, Maine Chapter President
“Learn to expect the unexpected.” As a wildlife biologist, I learned this tenet of ecology early in my career. Nature is full of surprises from the elegant workings of the DNA molecule to the intricate cogs and wheels of a forest ecosystem. Rapid advancements in genetic science gave us both disappointment and hope for restoring the American chestnut in 2023. This issue of Maine’s Tree Urchin newsletter explains some unexpected discoveries in the world of chestnut science, how it affects chestnut restoration in Maine, and provides a peek at the year ahead.
