Virginia News
Middle Mountain Workday
On April 30, a large group of 22 volunteers, including 15 members of Boy Scout Troop 79, worked on the orchard at Middle Mountain Farm in Albemarle County. The orchard, which contains nearly 300 seedlings, was started from seeds planted earlier this year. The...
Inoculations Completed
On July 1, volunteers completed inoculations of American chestnut trees at three Virginia breeding orchards: Blandy Farm in Clarke County, about 350 trees; Roland Farm in Fauquier County, about 250 trees; and Fortune’s Cove in Nelson County (about 350 trees)....
Bull Run Mountain Site Surviving
Recently, Michael and Ann Ritter joined Bill McShea of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) and staff of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) and hiked out in the humid, 90 degree July heat to see if the American chestnut seedlings that were still...
VA TACF Announces New PlantsMap Page!
The Virginia TACF proudly announces the inauguration of its PlantsMap page. The PlantsMap page shows the location of American chestnut trees planted throughout the state as a part of VA TACF’s ceremonial planting program. Here you will find the location of the...
Smithfield Plantation Planting April 22
The Virginia Chapter of TACF donated Restoration 1.0 seedling chestnuts to Historic Smithfield Plantation in Blacksburg, VA, which were planted on April 22. The ceremonial planting was in conjunction with the Daughters of the American Revolution, District VII, who...
Pollination Plans for 2015
As a part of our breeding program for native chestnuts, we perform controlled pollination. What we do is tie pollination bags on the female flowers of wild, surviving chestnuts. The first step is to count out and label bags. Then we get a bucket truck or orchard...
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National Facebook
Lesesne State Forest is 422 acres, and lies next to Three Ridges Wilderness Area in Nelson County, VA. TACF and VA Department of Forestry partner in managing and breeding chestnuts here for restoration. TACF hosted our partners and national board members on a tour of the orchard in mid-November.
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This beautiful state forest is a must-visit for nature lovers and outdoor enthusiasts!
Cool. I planted 56 Dunstan chestnuts on Nov. 3 in damp peat moss. I have to transfer to potting soil soon, they're all sprouting. And I mean it looks like every single nut has germinated.
Going here for the first time, seeing all the big American Chestnuts and also watching Bill Deeter 's videos and pictures of his trees convinced me that it is possible to breed resistance into American chestnuts! We got this folks
We’re on the Naturally Scott Podcast!
Our President & CEO sat down with Scott to talk about the past, present, and future of the American chestnut — from its historic role in Appalachia to the cutting-edge science driving restoration today.
- Why the roots never died
- The cutting-edge science behind restoration
- Why volunteers and donors are leading this effort
Watch the full episode now and join us in bringing back America’s iconic tree:
www.youtube.com/@NaturallyScott
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/naturallyscott/id1830513032
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🐛 Large silk moth caterpillar native to North America, not a threatened species fairly common *but beautiful.
🌳 Tree is a wild American chestnut planted for a PRR fungicide trial in Clemson, SC.
Photo credit: Celeste Giles, Research Associate with the Plant and Environment Sciences Department at Clemson
#americanchestnut #explore #nature #bugs #chestnuts #caterpillar
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Can you tell us more about the PRR fungicide trial?
So cool. Curious if the funguscide harms the catepillar and insects?
Speaking of threat, our local university has discovered the chestnut weevil is not extinct as was thought. www.actionnews5.com/2025/12/08/uofm-researchers-rediscover-weevil-believed-be-extinct-thanks-phot...
In celebration of GivingTuesday, TACF’s Board of Directors and President & CEO Michael Goergen came together to issue a matching gift challenge. The original goal was $5,000, but because of their collective passion and generosity a total of $18,125 has been raised, making the impact of your gift even greater. If that amount is reached, it will double to $36,250! Visit the link in our bio to donate.
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Join the VA chapter for a science presentation, orchard tour and seed give away! This meeting is open to the public and will take place on December 6th at Banshee Reeks Nature Preserve from 1pm-4pm.
Stop by and get some free wild-type American chestnut seeds!
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What kind of American chestnut seeds?
Very cool! Have fun everyone who can go!
their is one kind only