Virginia News
Fall 2017 The Bur Available to Read!
The Fall 2017 issue of The Bur, the Virginia Chapter's newsletter, is now available for reading on-line. Download a copy of this and all other issues at here, where you can also sign up to have future issues delivered automatically when they are released.
Central VA Restoration Branch Participates in Riverfest
The Central Virginia Restoration Branch of the Virginia Chapter participated in Riverfest on Saturday, April 29. Riverfest is an annual event in Waynesboro, VA, which hosts many environmental and government agencies.
Many Activities Planned in Central Virginia
Volunteer Speakers Sought The Central Virginia Restoration Branch is asking for help in spreading information about our program. A group of speakers is being formed in the Central Virginia area to speak to civic, environmental groups, schools, etc. Volunteers for this...
Orchard Maintenance at the Roland Orchard
The Roland Orchard was initially planted in the spring of 2008. Additional trees were planted in April 2009. There were originally 385 trees: 15 were pure American; 15 were pure Chinese, 15 were 50-50 crosses between American and Chinese, and the remaining 320 were...
Spring 2017 Newsletter Available!
The Spring 2017 issue of The Bur, the Virginia Chapter's newsletter, is now available for reading on-line. Download a copy of this and all other issues at here, where you can also sign up to have future issues delivered automatically when they are released.
Southwest Branch Active in 2017!
Planning is underway for a large planting (over 4000 trees) in the Channels State Forest near Meadowview. The planting will include both silvaculture test plots and reforestation. In addition, the Branch is working with two high schools to coordinate educational...
Virginia Chapter Menu
National Facebook
Have a great photo of an American chestnut tree, bloom, bur, leaf, restoration planting, volunteer event, or wildlife interaction? We'd love to see it! (Photo pictured taken by 2025 2rd place winner Eric Sizemore)
First Place receives:
- Their photo featured on the cover of a future issue of Chestnut magazine
- A one-year TACF Seed Level Membership (a $300 value!)
- TACF merchandise
Second and Third Place winners will receive:
- TACF swag
- Recognition alongside the first-place winner in the 2027 Spring/Summer issue of Chestnut.
Submit your entries by December 31, 2026.
Visit the following link for more information and complete submission details: tacf.org/2026-photo-contest/
#AmericanChestnut #PhotoContest #TACF #ChestnutMagazine #ConservationPhotography #ForestRestoration #NaturePhotography
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Josh Roudebush win it all bro I might know a few big boys for the shot
A bee enjoying a well deserved break after the chestnut pollination period. The tree it rests on is a hybrid castanea pumila x alabamensis (dwarf chestnut x Alabama chinquapin).
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Voles got my chestnut, planted spring 2025
August Events! Double check with your states Chapter about events in your area.
Visit the following link for more information on the events: tacf.org/events/category/tacf/
#americanchestnut #Connecticut #NorthCarolina #SouthCarolina #getinvolved
0 CommentsComment on Facebook
In a recent article for The Conversation, Dr. Steve Strauss discusses how advances in genomics and biotechnology are creating new opportunities to support chestnut restoration.
We're pleased to see perspectives from a longtime TACF collaborator. Steve served on our Science Advisory Review Committee in 2018 and currently has a pending proposal with TACF to improve genetic transformation methods for chestnut.
Give the article a read and let us know what part of chestnut restoration you're most excited about: theconversation.com/new-genetic-approaches-raise-hopes-for-restoring-the-american-chestnut-to-its...
30 CommentsComment on Facebook
Somewhere, waiting discovery deep inside the remote part of a forest towers a thriving blight resistant nut filled American Chestnut (surrounded by dead ones just so we know it was exposed and surviving). We can hope. Taking inspiration from the Dogwood saga.
Professors at S.U.N.Y E.S.F put a wheat gene in to Chestnuts years ago and have growing them
I thought the blight only killed the tree above the ground and not the root system that's why the chestnut resprouts and grows until it gets a scar on it and the blight kills the sprouted tree back down to the ground leaving more viable root system to sprout again in the future.
Unlike most forest trees that rely mostly on wind, American chestnuts recruit insects too.
#americanchestnut #environmentaleducation #pollinator #nativetrees #dronefootage
1 CommentComment on Facebook
Okay, who was in our Monocacy Orchard. MDTACF.