Upcoming Events
Maine – About Us
The Maine chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) was established in 1999 to help restore the American chestnut tree to our corner of America here in Maine. We live at the northernmost end of its natural range where chestnuts, like Mainers, make due with less sunshine and more cold. These suboptimal conditions made for sparser populations of chestnuts (and people) than southern climes, even before the blight.
Maine is currently home to more mature, flowering wild American chestnuts than any other state. Their success is due primarily to Maine’s geographic isolation from the denser populations of chestnut trees south of us, where the fungus spreads more readily. We have the joyful job of finding Maine’s wild trees and harvesting their nuts!
By growing chestnuts from wild trees, the Maine Chapter is preserving genes that have helped the chestnut adapt to life at the cooler edge of its range. Ultimately our gene conservation and breeding efforts are intended to produce hearty, blight-resistant populations of American chestnuts that we can use for forest restoration.
The chapter’s goals are to: 1) Protect, conserve, preserve, and propagate trees from the remaining native American chestnut populations in Maine; 2) Restore the American chestnut to a place of ecological and economic importance and self-sustainability throughout their original range in Maine, and 3) Make blight-resistant American chestnuts available to the people of Maine as soon as possible.
With your help we intend to restore this iconic species to Maine’s landscape, its wildlife, and its people.
Chestnuts Across Maine
Chestnuts Across Maine (CAM) is an exciting, new initiative of the Maine chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). Our chapter is partnering with land trusts, state parks, schools, and town squares in Maine to establish small plantings of American chestnuts on lands open to the public. During our pilot year in 2024, ME-TACF coordinated plantings with 8 organizations! Learn more about Chestnuts Across Maine.
Board of Directors
Key Contacts
Mark McCollough, Chapter President
Eva Butler, Chapter Vice President, Volunteer Coordinator (Email)
Al Faust, Treasurer
James Day, Secretary
Thomas Klak, Chair of Gene Conservation
Eric Evans, Breeding Coordinator
Ann Rea, Seed Sales
Board Members
David Allen, Portland
Peter Bohman, Monmouth
Eva Butler, St George
James Day, Portland
Eric Evans, Camden
Albert C. Faust, Winterport
Dr. Tom Klak, Saco
Mark McCollough, Hampden
Dr. Nina Pearlmutter, Kennebunkport
Andy Reed, Unity
Dr. Brian Roth, Orono
Larry Totten, West Bath
Roger Willby, Bridgeton
Maine Chapter Menu
National Facebook
Recently, 45 students in grades 5-8 at Christ the King Church & School in Rutland, Vermont, helped harvest American chestnuts from trees planted by 8th graders back in 2019. Students opened burs, explored fertile and sterile seeds, felt the unique textures of the burs, and learned about the history of the American chestnut and the restoration efforts underway today.
A special thank you to TACF member Thomas Estill for leading this engaging experience and helping connect students with one of America's most iconic native trees. The students can't wait to roast them this week and experience that sweet starchy flavor.
#AmericanChestnut #ChestnutRestoration #EnvironmentalEducation #FutureForesters #STEMeducation
6 CommentsComment on Facebook
Are they blight resistant?
What a wonderful thing! We recently had three biology classes at Robin Hill Nature Preserve. It was a thrill to see the kids asking questions, making sketches and filling their notebooks.
They must be blight resistant, please replant.
"American chestnut trees were wiped out more than a century ago. Now, new trees that are fungus-resistant are being planted at the zoo."
Read this article by the New York Times about a chestnut tree planting today at the Bronx Zoo, where chestnut blight was first discovered.
Click the following link to read the article: www.nytimes.com/2026/10/05/nyregion/chestnut-trees-bronx-zoo.html?unlocked_article_code=1.GVE.LAU...
#news #americanchestnut #explore #NY #forestry
48 CommentsComment on Facebook
We had a chestnut tree in the yard of an air bnb in Washington's Crossing, PA.
They are hybrid trees, not full American.
Utter waste of time. They’ll be dead from the blight in 50 years just like all true Anerican chestnut trees. These scientists are creating hybrids because they cannot stop the blight.
We're grateful to see the important work of American chestnut restoration highlighted by Wild Appalachia.
The segment features WV Chapter member Mark Double and TACF partner Dr. Amy Metheny of WVU, who share why restoring this iconic native tree matters and the progress being made in West Virginia and beyond.
Watch the whole video or read the article here: wchstv.com/community/wild-appalachia/wild-appalachia-american-chestnut-restoration
3 CommentsComment on Facebook
my daughter in mt pleasant ny ( catskills) has a huge american chestnut tree in front of her 1904 home. somehow it missed the blight
I just sent this as email to Governor Morrisey in West Virginia. Please do the same and send to everyone and anyone who may be able to help in an effort to save Clements Nursery American Chestnut Grove. "Dear Governor Morrisey. I have learned that a private corporation plans to destroy the grove of American Chestnut trees at Clements Nursery. For the love of god and all that is good in this world please help to preserve these American Chestnut trees. There are not that many genuine American Chestnut trees that are still growing and what you have there in West Virginia is a national treasure that cannot be replaced with any amount of money, gold or riches. I among with many other multi generational Americans believe this grove of trees should be a treasured working national historic landmark producing seeds and seedling for reestablishing genuine pure American Chestnut trees in our Appalachian Mountains and throughout our country."
They are planning to destroy the site on Nov. 1, 2026 for a data center 🙁
Georgia folks, don’t forget to mark your calendars for the Chestnutoberfest happening on October 17th! #Georgia
This content isn't available right now
When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.0 CommentsComment on Facebook
Latest News
December 2025 Newsletter Now Available
The newsletter of The American Chestnut Foundation Maine Chapter has arrived! Download it here. Inside, you'll find many stories about ME-TACF's work to restore the American chestnut: Maine Chapter plans a new seed orchard with Viles Arboretum Chestnuts at The Common...
Calling Volunteers to Chestnuts Across Maine
Chestnuts Across Maine (CAM) is an exciting, new initiative of the Maine chapter of TACF. Our chapter is partnering with land trusts, state parks, schools, and town squares in Maine to establish small plantings of American chestnuts on lands open to the public. This...
Chestnut Science Update
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...