Our Mission
The mission of this chapter shall be to assist in the work of The American Chestnut Foundation in bringing about a revival and a renewal of the American chestnut tree as a prominent part of the forests of the United States of America by strengthening the organization’s financial and membership base, education, public awareness, and research activities.
Once there were over four billion American chestnut trees in the United States. One out of every four trees in the Appalachian forests was a chestnut! From Maine to Mississippi, American chestnut trees thrived and matured as the dominant species, towering over their neighbors the oaks, hickories, and tulip poplars. And they were huge. One tree near Waynesville, NC, was over 17 feet in diameter — 53 feet in circumference!
Foresters called the American Chestnut “the most useful tree in the woods”,because it provided abundant food for wild animals and livestock, a cash crop for mountain farmers, a light, yellow-colored wood for furniture, and rot-resistant lumber for fences, utility poles, and siding.
In 1904 the chestnut blight disease, caused by an Asian fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, was discovered in the Bronx Zoo of New York City. The blight spread quickly by air and on the bodies of insects, birds, and animals.
By the 1930´s, almost all the mature chestnut trees in the Carolinas were dying back to their roots. Thanks to soil organisms, however, many of the roots remain alive, sending up small sprouts that constantly die back from the blight even today.
Now, with an approach called backcross breeding, the American Chestnut Foundation and its Carolinas Chapter are working to revive this great King of the Forest. Within a decade, we expect to have blight-resistant trees ready for testing in North and South Carolina. It is our hope and expectation that the American chestnut will resume its place as a significant species in our forests. The members of the Carolinas Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation are heavily involved in reaching this goal: finding surviving trees, pollinating them, harvesting seed, and planting orchards for eventual reforestation. We sincerely appreciate the dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm of our members and ask you to join us in our efforts to save this great tree.
Carolinas Chapter Board of Directors
Doug Gillis, Charlotte, NC, President
Allan Snow, Waxhaw, NC, Secretary
Paul Sisco, Asheville, NC, Treasurer
Steve Barilovits, III, Charlotte, NC
John Bonitz, Pittsboro, NC
Joe James, Seneca, SC
Brian Joyce, Arden, NC
Bonnie Millar, Asheville, NC
Scott Pryor, Edneyville, NC
Russell Regnery, Highlands, NC
Judy Sutton, Waynesville, NC
Jon Taylor, Asheville, NC
The Carolinas Chapter Menu
National Facebook
Bill Deeter, President of The Indiana Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation explains using “catch nets” to harvest chestnuts from tall American chestnuts. READ his full description. Thank you Bill for trying to beat anything with “fur, feathers or hair” to the chestnuts. We love the improvisation!
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.2 CommentsComment on Facebook
Thank you!!
can you show what the blyth looks like?
A good day at Kentucky Division of Forestry Morgan County Tree Nursery. Collected 60 or so fertile burs (and left many small, infertile burs on the tree … there just were not enough catkins on the other trees to get a “full dose” of pollen to the available female flowers). Next is sorting down the best 50 to ship to Virginia Tech for a research project.
From The American Chestnut Foundation - Kentucky Chapter President Ken Darnell:
“I collected ‘open pollinated’ burs today. Left the bagged (Control Pollinated) burs to further ripen. Will come back in a couple of weeks to check them again. The Americans in Morgan County Nursery definitely mature later than all other flowers and burrs that I have seen around the state…..
Used my folding ladder to get up to the burs to “close clip” off their base stems … rather than using an extension pole to clip off several inches of twigs. That should help next season with more bur production.”
11 CommentsComment on Facebook
I would like to acquire a few to see if they will grow in zone 6
How do I grow chestnut trees from my existing tree
Are these “open pollinated” plants with hybrids or are they pollinating pure C. dentata? What are the controlled populations being bagged for specifically?
Nice job! The only thing I see in New York are Chinese  chestnut trees. 
Does Missouri have a chestnut association
I see these on the ground around my property in Fairview North Carolina, 2300 feet elevation blue ridge mountains. They are chestnuts? Chinese or American?
I thought you needed to wait for the burr to fall. Can you harvest right off the tree - how do you know when to do that?
Have a good crop of chestnut still on the trees. What do I do to plantings to get more trees?
How I can harvest my chesnuts? This year I lost 99% of my chesnut production to squirrels depredation.
Karen Cox Gullett, Sue Rupard, EddyPatsy Roberts
Tennessee fans! Chestnut Shucking Party!
You've never had so much fun in your life! Please join us on Saturday for a chestnut shucking party at the Fortwood Street Greenhouse and Nursery.
Who: calling all Tennessee Chapter volunteers of The American Chestnut Foundation
What: a fun day processing this year's harvest of backcross American chestnut seeds
Where: The Fortwood Street Greenhouse and Nursery, on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, located at 833 Fortwood Street, Chattanooga, TN. 37403 (in UTC Parking Lot 37)
When: Saturday, 7 October 2023, from 10:00 AM until the fun runs out.
Why: In order to harvest seeds from our backcross hybrids we need to collect the burs the day before they open (because as soon as the burs open the nuts fall out and are eaten by deer, squirrels, wild turkeys and other neighbors).
How: To prepare the seeds for winter, we need to remove the chestnuts from their burs by hand (that's the shucking part). The chestnuts are then carefully cleaned, surface sterilized, sorted, counted, and packed into a moist medium (sphagnum) to be stratified for four months at 40 F.
Bring: A pair of puncture-proof gloves (if you have a pair), and dress for the weather.
For more information, please contact Hill Craddock: 423-290-8924 or hill-craddock@utc.edu
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.1 CommentComment on Facebook
We have an American chestnut here on Beech mountain. I would like to try to do this. Are you saying the nut itself is the seed?
And harvesting continues! This report from the TACF The Georgia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation has a great description of the process, what happens after the nuts are picked and processed and also how we work with so many partners like Berry College who helps process the harvested nuts. Also pictured is Kathy Patrick, the volunteer of the year for the entire southern region of TACF. Thank you, Kathy, for your dedication and hard work. We will see you at the Fall Meeting! Note: some of these nuts were harvested at Anna Ruby Falls by staff Member Matt Summers!
14 CommentsComment on Facebook
Do you ship seeds
This is amazing!
Hope to see more saplings at Shieling State Forest soon. I walk thru every weekend.
Is there any way to get some seedlings
Let us hope this is exceptional news, I wish we could grow chestnuts here in Kansas zone 6.
I'd love to have an American Chestnut tree in my field.
Where will they be planted?
Newbee here, why does the tree bark look so narly?
How can someone purchase seedlings
They’re fallin in Southern Ohio!
Do you ship seeds or saplings? If so will they grow in northern Michigan
Chinese chestnut trees are for sale at Walmart .. I prefer American. Where can I find them… Ohio
I remember my college days at SFA in Nacogdoches Texas 1st year dendrology . On our lab one week we were sampling trees in a neighborhood close to campus instead out in the woods. We came up on a so called (ringer) or a tree not included in our textbook. Because I had spent a lot of time in North Carolina I recognized right off as an American chestnut and got to go home early. Now how it got there nobody knows but it’s still there torturing new dendrology students today under the watchful eye of the forestry department at SFA,
They are selling saplings at fryberg fair for $20 each.
Carolinas Chapter member Jon Taylor recently spent 10 days collecting chestnut burs from 18 wild trees spanning Alabama to Connecticut. This was his third annual chestnut harvest, and the nuts he collected will get planted in several different germplasm conservation orchards. The goal is that some of these will eventually become mother trees and receive transgenic pollen.
1st photo: An American chestnut tree on the Appalachian Trail in central Pennsylvania
2nd photo: Jon Taylor with newly discovered American chestnut tree in Connecticut
31 CommentsComment on Facebook
I am curious how to order seedlings? We've got acreage in Western NC mountains and we'd love to plant lots of these.
Such important work. ❤️❤️❤️
Thank for your efforts Jon!
Way cool!
I would love to get some blight resistant trees so I could spread the chestnut 🌰 tree love 🌳
Found some chestnuts while hiking in the Smokies this week.
My mom has a sizable one in her yard in Brevard, NC with no signs of blight. It has seeds every year.
I have lots of chestnut trees on my farm in WV. How do I know if they are American chestnuts or not?
Wonderful!
I truly hope that this effort is successful. It would be a great thing to see the chestnut become a major tree once again across the Eastern to Central US.
Good !
Nice finds! Here is the one I found on my farm. Western PA It's around 50 feet tall.
Awesome!
I had a chestnut 🌰 tree that got to be 40 inches round and plenty of chestnuts but one year it got dark and looked like it caught the blight. It was a shock to me because my papa had planted it from a seed. I have 2 more That look like bushes. But I’m afraid they also are prone to catching the blight.
A question for the experts…would it be possible to grow a tree in zone 5b Chicago? Congratulations on this wonderful mission.
The tree on #1 looks more like a shagbark hickory than a chestnut. I have both growing on my property.
I really need some seedlings!!!
Looks like my chestnut tree
These are blight resistant?
I love you’re using biotechnology to solve this problem. I wonder if you partner with the biotech industry you could move quicker and more efficient.
I love anyone on a mission, but I especially love THIS mission. Thank you.
Is there a report of any in Red Creek, NY?
They must have been something to behold.in Pre Columbus . America
There is a grove in Orleans, MA.
I know where some of these are in Middelsboro Kentucky where I grew up
Latest News
The Chestnut Tree Orchard in The Park at Glassy
The Park at Glassy is a beautiful, expansive, woodland sanctuary below the upper post office and the Children’s Village near the top of Glassy Mountain. It comprises 17 acres of sunny open areas, walking paths, shaded woodland trails, a waterfall, and several 100-yr...
Boy Scout-Led Restoration Project in Burke County, NC Featured in Morganton News Herald
In partnership with TACF, the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) joined the American chestnut rescue mission in December 2021 with two volunteer plantings in Burke County, NC. Volunteers succeeded in planting 500 American chestnut seedlings at Oak Hill...