In The News

Matthews State Forest Planting, Grayson County, VA Featured Image

Matthews State Forest Planting, Grayson County, VA

Do you know what a landscape fabric spreading machine looks like? I didn’t, until the Virginia Department of Forestry (VDF) lent one to the VA-TACF Chapter on December 7 and 8. This machine helped greatly as volunteers planted 678 hybrid chestnut seedlings at Matthews State Forest in Grayson County, VA. In addition...
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MD’s Susquehannock Wildlife Society brings American chestnut back to their local ecosystem Featured Image

MD’s Susquehannock Wildlife Society brings American chestnut back to their local ecosystem

The Susquehannock Wildlife Society (SWS) is proud to announce that a new American chestnut restoration project is underway on our 20-acre Wildlife Center property in Harford County, MD, thanks to the generous donation of forty seedlings from TACF. This project began after SWS had to cut most of our Green ash trees due to damage caused by the invasive emerald ash borer. Learning in...
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Roast Chestnuts Day 2021 – Ways to Celebrate Featured Image

Roast Chestnuts Day 2021 – Ways to Celebrate

Today, December 14, 2021 is a special occasion at TACF: Roast Chestnuts Day! As we enjoy this holiday season, the tune of Nat King Cole’s famous 1946 “The Christmas Song” brings forth cheerful appreciation for "chestnuts roasting on an open fire." TACF’s hopeful mission to rescue the iconic American chestnut tree ensures that future generations may continue the sentimental holiday tradition of roasting chestnuts...
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If we want to save the natural world, we’re going to have to change it Featured Image

If we want to save the natural world, we’re going to have to change it

In this November 2021 article from The Washington Post, University of California Santa Cruz professor of ecology and evolution Beth Shapiro explores the power of synthetic biology to restore earth’s critical biodiversity. Citing the restoration of the functionally extinct American chestnut tree and the highly endangered black-footed ferret, Beth addresses the capability of human intervention to reverse the course of human-influenced environmental damage. This...
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‘This is Love’ Podcast – Episode 40: “Grandfather of the Forest” Featured Image

‘This is Love’ Podcast – Episode 40: “Grandfather of the Forest”

On November 17, 2021, the This is Love podcast released its 40th episode titled "Grandfather of the Forest," exploring the multigenerational journey of American chestnut restoration. Host Phoebe Judge speaks with passionate TACF members Blair and Mary Carbaugh, Kristy Klinger, and TACF Director of Restoration Sara Fitzsimmons, gaining insight into the motivations of those who plant trees under the shade of which they will...
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2021 West Virginia Chestnut Festival Featured Image

2021 West Virginia Chestnut Festival

The 13th annual West Virginia Chestnut Festival was held on Sunday, October 10 in Rowlesburg, WV. Traditions of this festival include the annual crowning of two individuals as Mr. and Mrs. Chestnut, based on their valued contributions to the broad areas of the American chestnut heritage and tradition. Jeff and Erica Kochenderfer were crowned 2021 Mr. and Mrs. Chestnut. Jeff serves as the north zone...
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Passing of an Iconic American Chestnut Tree Featured Image

Passing of an Iconic American Chestnut Tree

A large American chestnut tree in Sherwood, Oregon, more than six feet in diameter, has succumbed to old age. The passing of such a large tree in current times is a rare event. The tree that died was planted in 1885 by a farmer named Hicks. A nearby second tree planted by Hicks, four feet in diameter, survives. The article, “Back from the Brink,”...
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Maine Soil and Water Conservation District Contributes to American Chestnut Research Featured Image

Maine Soil and Water Conservation District Contributes to American Chestnut Research

An article from the Maine Central Aroostook Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) details their latest collaboration with the ME-TACF Chapter. Armed with about 30 chestnut seedlings, the district began working to clone these seedlings for blight resistance. The district’s efforts have prompted the ME-TACF Chapter to donate another 300 seedlings. Central Aroostook SWCD Executive Director Randy Martin (pictured) and Forester Ethan Hill are...
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A Cherokee Chestnut Legend Featured Image

A Cherokee Chestnut Legend

"Music from the river once was a lullaby to the great town that doesn’t have ears to hear it much anymore. Sometimes a rainbow spans the olden home place of the Principal People. But it doesn’t speak the same happy tidings to the same happy tribe. Even the tall, smoky-looking mountains are silent. Too silent." –T. Walter Middleton The cover...
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ME- and VT/NH-TACF Chapters Collaborate to Advance Chestnut Restoration Featured Image

ME- and VT/NH-TACF Chapters Collaborate to Advance Chestnut Restoration

On August 24-25, 2021 ME-TACF Chapter Vice President Tom Klak, and VT/NH-TACF Chapter President Doug McLane, once again combined efforts to move American chestnut restoration forward. They checked the condition of hundreds of chestnut flowers at Cape Elizabeth, ME that they had pollinated earlier with transgenic pollen. This was one more...
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The Sun Journal Covers 114-Foot-Tall American Chestnut in Hebron, Maine Featured Image

The Sun Journal Covers 114-Foot-Tall American Chestnut in Hebron, Maine

This article in the Sun Journal revisits the 114-foot tall American chestnut tree in Hebron, Maine. The tree is considered to be the largest surviving American chestnut in the state of Maine, and one of the largest in the country. The reason for its blight-resistance is unknown,...
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CT-TACF Chapter Chestnut Hikes in Search of American Chestnut Germplasm Featured Image

CT-TACF Chapter Chestnut Hikes in Search of American Chestnut Germplasm

In July 2021, the CT-TACF Chapter held several Chestnut Hikes to search for new sources of American chestnut germplasm. The CT Department of Energy & Environmental Protection had previously performed habitat management harvests at many parcels of state-owned land to create early successional habitat for the New England Cottontail, a species that was proposed for listing on the Endangered Species List.  Since these forest...
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