Virginia News
Seed Planting at Catawba
On the bright and windy morning of Saturday, April 4, four volunteers planted 88 chestnut nuts at the Catawba Sustainability Center’s breeding orchard. The Catawba Sustainability Center, a property of Virginia Tech, is located in Catawba, Virginia. Catawba is a...
Planting at Ivy Creek
On March 28, five Restoration 1.0 chestnut seedlings were planted at the Ivy Creek Nature Area near Charlottesville. These seedlings are a 15:1 cross between native American chestnuts and Chinese chestnuts and have been bred to incorporate the blight resistant...
Volunteers Work in Roland Orchard
On March 26, six volunteers braved a rainy morning to work in the Roland Orchard in Fauquier County. Eighty-six traps were baited and set for Asian Ambrosia Beetles (AAB), which are a serious threat to the health of chestnut trees. In addition, the volunteers measured...
Planting Time is Coming!
The season for planting chestnut trees—whether from seeds or seedlings—is springtime. If you are planning to plant this spring, it’s time to be thinking about what you need to do to improve your chances of growing healthy American chestnut trees. First, consider your...
Meadowlark Gardens Planting May 3
The Northern Virginia Regional Park Authority and the Virginia Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation will plant a demonstration orchard of Restoration Chestnuts at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens in Vienna on Sunday, May 3 at 11:00 am. We are looking for a few...
Ceremonial Planting at Montpelier April 24
A ceremony was held on April 24, 2015, for the planting of a Restoration 1.0 American chestnut tree on the grounds of James Madison’s Montpelier near Orange, Virginia. For more information about Montpelier, the home of James and Dolley Madison, visit...
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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
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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).
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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
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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...
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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
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Okay, who was in our Monocacy Orchard. MDTACF.