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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
Chestnuts Roasting is finally here! Come on down to Sweetbay Brewing Co and experience the iconic holiday tradition of roasted chestnuts. Sweetbay Brewing will be unveiling a limited edition chestnut beer, and settle in for the inspiring story of the American chestnut and live music. If you aren't convinced yet, check out some of our past Chestnuts Roasting events! Don't forget we changed the time to 5PM, can't wait to see you there!
#fall #chestnuts #americanchestnutfoundation #americanchestnut #ChestnutRoasting
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We are thankful for this abundant and resilient tree that brings us together. Thankful for a species with such a rich history touching millions of lives across this land, from animal to arthropod. Thank you for sharing this journey with us. #theamericanchestnut #theamericanchestnutfoundation #meadowviewresearchfarms #CastaneaDentata
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The American Chestnut Foundation's national office will be closed starting today, Thursday, November 28 through Sunday, December 1. We will reopen Monday, December 2.
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Here at Meadowview Research Farms, we do it for the trees and we do it for the team! Teamwork is a huge part of our daily operations at the farm. It takes a group effort for our team of six to get projects done, big and small. Recent team projects included replacing the current greenhouse walls with new plastic and our fall planting. Trees grown in the greenhouse are used for research or are grown out to be planted in the field for observation or future breeding, the work of each individual impacts the group as a whole. From putting a chestnut in a pot, to applying research treatments and taking data, to planting in the field, MRF staff work together as a team to get it all done. FOR THE TEAM!
#CHESTNUT #americanchestnut #meadowviewresearchfarms #theamericanchestnutfoundation #teamwork #greenhouse #planting #science #conservationscience #research
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Exciting update from TACF's Meadowview Research Farms! Please enjoy some footage from the ongoing 4-season research greenhouse construction. Contractors from GrowSpan Greenhouse Structures have been working hard for the past two weeks to get the greenhouse up and have made amazing progress so far. Beyond framing, the polycarbonate roof and side walls are going up and just today, heaters are being mounted! Once the exterior is complete, work will begin on building out the necessary environmental controls including the evaporative coolers and automated shading. With the weather growing continuously colder we are looking forward to having a warm and safe new home for TACF seedlings and experiments. We are so grateful to our generous donors for their dedication to the TACF mission and excitement for this project.
#greenhouse #research #TheAmericanChestnutFoundation #science #restoration #chestnut #ConservationScience #AmericanChestnut #MeadowviewResearchFarms
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Latest News
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...