Vermont / New Hampshire News

ME and VT/NH Chapters coordinate to advance chestnut restoration!

On August 24-25, 2021 Maine Chapter VP, Tom Klak, and VT/NH 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, Maine that they had pollinated earlier with transgenic pollen. This was one more important step in the transgenic chestnut experiment underway at the University of New England (UNE) through Dr. Klak’s leadership. His work is closely coordinated with the College of Forestry and Environmental Science at SUNY Syracuse where the transgenic chestnut was developed.

When the pollinated nuts mature they will be harvested and each one painstakingly analyzed to determine which ones have inherited the transgenic tree’s oxidase enzyme that will allow the next generation to tolerate chestnut blight. About half of the nuts typically inherit the gene.

All TACF Chapters are actively locating nut-producing wild American chestnuts and planting their nuts in Germplasm Conservation Orchards. Trees grown from these nuts will be pollinated with transgenic pollen once it is approved for distribution by Federal agencies. Dr. Klak’s work at UNE is tightly controlled under strict USDA permits.

Pollinating and harvesting hundreds of chestnuts is difficult and labor intensive work. Tom and Doug’s efforts are greatly appreciated!.

 

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🌰 Harvest processing at TACF’s Meadowview Research Farms is equal parts important science and hands-on fun! Staff and volunteers shuck burs and sort chestnuts with care, ensuring quality seeds for future plantings and solid data for research. It’s a lively, rewarding way to support restoration while sharing in the joy of chestnut season together. 🌳

#AmericanChestnut #MeadowviewResearchFarms #americanchestnutfoundation#ChestnutResearch #ConservationScience #harvest
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4 CommentsComment on Facebook

That was our job after school pick up the chestnuts, we opened them up with our feet.

This isn’t a chestnut tree, right? It’s too old and healthy to be one.

Mary Ellen McCoy

Join us on tomorrow, October 10, 2025, from 11:30AM – 1:00PM (EPT), for the next LIVE Chestnut Chat.

Our special guest, Dr. Trevor Walker, Assistant Professor of Forest Genetics and Co-Director of the Cooperative Tree Improvement Program at NC State University, will share insights from 70 years of breeding loblolly pine for disease resistance, growth, and stem form. He will also consider which practices are likely to succeed for American chestnut, which are not, and why.

Visit tacf.org/event/chestnut-chat-breeding-disease-resistance-in-loblolly-pine/ to learn more or register.
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Join us on tomorrow, October 10, 2025, from 11:30AM – 1:00PM (EPT), for the next LIVE Chestnut Chat.Our special guest, Dr. Trevor Walker, Assistant Professor of Forest Genetics and Co-Director of the Cooperative Tree Improvement Program at NC State University, will share insights from 70 years of breeding loblolly pine for disease resistance, growth, and stem form. He will also consider which practices are likely to succeed for American chestnut, which are not, and why.Visit https://tacf.org/event/chestnut-chat-breeding-disease-resistance-in-loblolly-pine/ to learn more or register.

1 CommentComment on Facebook

Just saw this. How was the chat?

Do you love pulling on your work gloves and cracking open freshly fallen burs to reveal the chestnuts inside? If you do, but don’t have any of your own yet, become a member and get access to our wild-type seed sale in 2026. In just a few years, your hands could be full of spiky burs and American chestnuts of your own. support.tacf.org/membership/new-regular ... See MoreSee Less

37 CommentsComment on Facebook

I use my boots to open them!

Porcupine eggs!!😂🤣

I have a bag full.

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We’re proud to share this segment from the PBS show Human Footprint, featuring former TACF staff member Sara Fitzsimmons. The American chestnut sequence was selected to be adapted into a standalone YouTube video, which launched in late September and has already garnered more than half a million views. Sara’s dedication and expertise have shaped much of the progress in restoring the American chestnut. Give it a watch to learn more about this important work. ... See MoreSee Less

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3 CommentsComment on Facebook

Great presentation!

I’ll show this to Ben. His English Chestnut is bearing nuts; Ben has been eating them. His American chestnut is bearing seed pods but not mature yet. We will definitely watch this. Thank you.

🌰 Harvest season at TACF’s Meadowview Research Farms brings both beauty and breakthrough science. Many of the chestnut crosses we gather are generated through recurrent genomic selection—cutting-edge research driving restoration forward. Each bur holds not only the wonder of new life, but also the promise of a future where the majestic American chestnut returns to our forests. 🌳

#americanchestnut #castaneadentata #americanchestnutfoundation #ChestnutResearch #meadowviewresearchfarms
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Are there places we can purchases a Chestnut tree that is disease resistant? Thanks!

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