In The News
On Saturday, August 26, the Kentucky Chapter held a special annual meeting in Berea. This year, in addition to the usual chapter business, a fun and informative 40th anniversary event took place, which included talks from TACF staff and KY Chapter members, a viewing of the documentary Clear Day Thunder: Rescuing the American Chestnut, a walk in the woods to view small American chestnut trees,...
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is excited to announce the release of CLEAR DAY THUNDER: Rescuing the American Chestnut, a documentary about the grassroots efforts of passionate citizen scientists and researchers working to restore this ecologically and economically significant tree species.
The Tennessee Chapter held a very successful one-day pollination workshop on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at the beautiful Chestnut Ridge Orchard in Middle Tennessee. The workshop was a hands-on opportunity to learn and practice techniques to make controlled crosses for TACF’s breeding program.
Kentucky Chapter partners and volunteers showed awesome teamwork in pollination efforts this year. Our American chestnut tree flowers matured over a wide range of dates in June 2023. This year we created a chart of “Prime Flower Maturity” dates of trees...
On April 27, 2023, The American Chestnut Foundation’s (TACF) Board of Directors announced that conservation leader Dr. William Pitt has been appointed President & CEO of TACF. Dr. Pitt will further the organization’s mission currently led by President & CEO Lisa Thomson. Ms Thomson announced in 2022 her wish to step...
It is time again to begin thinking about your best photos of American chestnut or American chestnut hybrids...
A recent article, published just before the holidays, shares the history of restoration efforts of the American chestnut tree. The article continues on to detail the current deregulation efforts towards the transgenic tree, Darling 58. "Over the last twenty years, efforts at the nexus of conservation and biotechnology have genetically engineered (GE) the American chestnut to resist the fungus. The goal is to...
American Chestnuts once numbered in the billions and ranged along the East coast from Maine to Mississippi. But a blight in the early 1900s pushed them back to a fraction of their historic range. Today, the American Chestnut is considered “functionally extinct”, but efforts to restore them are making progress through genetic modification. "Fortunately for us, even...
In a recent article by The Washington Post, The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) in partnership with the State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF) continue the conversation around the transgenic breeding of the American chestnut. With direct quotes from Jared Westbrook, TACF Director of Science, and Bill Powell, SUNY-ESF Director of American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project, the article...
Foundation Sees Restoration of Functionally Extinct Chestnut Trees as a Path to Healthier Forests ASHEVILLE, N.C., July 11, 2022 – The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) said today that...
For as long as many of us can remember, the folks at Amica Insurance have volunteered their time to help their local community. Their slogan is “Amica in the Community– Deep Roots. Strong Bonds.” That slogan took on a new meaning as a group of nine volunteers from Amica’s office in Lincoln, Rhode Island partnered with members of the Burrillville Land Trust (BLT) –...
Carolinas Chapter President Doug Gillis crafted the frame and posts for an orchard sign installed outside TACF's Asheville office on April 19, 2022 (pictured above). The wood Doug used is wormy chestnut from the Harris Dairy Farm in Barnardsville, NC. When timber on 435 acres of this nearly 800-acre farm was...