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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June is packed with activities! There are numerous provisional field work projects that haven’t yet been added to the Event Calendar. If you’re interested in participating in your Chapter's planting, pollination, and various field tasks, please contact them to express your enthusiasm. Additionally, consider subscribing to their newsletter, which regularly provides updates on upcoming events.
Check out our event calendar: tacf.org/events/category/tacf/
#events #fieldwork #americanchestnut #nonprofit #volunteer
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Barbara Stovall
The USDA has announced its desire to shut down or repurpose the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center (BARC), putting TACF’s important chestnut orchard at risk.
This orchard is especially valuable because the trees are growing in soil naturally affected by Phytophthora root rot (PRR), allowing researchers to evaluate disease resistance under real-world conditions. It includes predominantly American chestnut hybrids that have shown promising resistance and could soon provide a vital source of seed for restoration efforts.
We are asking members and volunteers to contact their representatives in Congress and urge continued access to BARC to help preserve this irreplaceable research and restoration resource.
#americanchestnut #contactcongress #calltoaction #conservation #environment
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Does the blight that affects the American chestnut live in the soil or is it airborne? I own several acres that once was a surface coal mine. The reclaimed soil is void of microbes (some consider it sterile). Empress trees grow on it, as well as many native species that don’t do so well in a mature forest. I’d like to try chestnut but not sure if it’s worth the investment.
That is a Chinese chestnut not an American chestnut
I hope they keep it open. These orchard are so important for forest restoration efforts. I created one for Butternut.
It was so much fun to get out and nature and be a part of a community. Volunteer and check out events with your state Chapter to see what you have been missing!
Click the link in our bio to visit the "Volunteer" and "Events Calendar" links under "Get Engaged"
#explore #getinvolved #volunteer #americanchestnut #conservation
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Excellent, Maryland TACF, Maryland Maryland Chestnut Festival
Have you been wanting to learn more about chestnut blight? I thought so!
Check out the article: www.aol.com/lifestyle/orange-gashes-tree-bark-023000711.html
#americanchestnut #explore #restoration #nature #news
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That's just Bigfoot pruning around