Beginning at 9 a.m. on Friday and Saturday, The AmericanChestnut Foundation (TACF) will plant more than 800 chestnut seedlings in a large-scale progeny test at Sewanee University of the South. This event is open to the general public and TACF is seeking volunteers to assist with the planting effort on both days. TACF’s Tennessee Chapter and the Huntsville Branch of its Alabama Chapter are coordinating this special event.
TACF relies on public and private partners to test its Restoration Chestnuts 1.0 in what is called a progeny test. The purpose of a progeny test is to assess the blight resistance and American chestnut character of the Restoration Chestnut 1.0 over time and under natural conditions.
This weekend’s progeny test will involve the planting of hundreds of potentially blight-resistant American chestnut seedlings. The seedlings, called Restoration Chestnut 1.0, are part of a research program led by TACF to restore the American chestnut to the eastern forests of America.
If you are interested in helping with this effort, please contact TACF Regional Science Coordinator Thomas Saielli at tom@acf.org. Volunteers will carpool from Lake Cheston parking area, Sewanee University at 9:00 a.m. on both days. GPS coordinates for the carpool location are: 35.209365 -85.930107. Participants may also go directly to the planting site at these coordinates: 35.217944 -85.980694. Please note: GPS coordinates are the only way to locate the planting site.
On Friday, participants will break early to attend a special presentation by Thomas Saielli about the American chestnut breeding program and the science behind the progeny test at Sewanee. The presentation will begin at 4:00 p.m. at Snowden Hall on the Sewanee campus, and it is open to the general public. Participation in the planting is not required.
Once the mighty giants of the eastern forests, American chestnuts stood up to 80 feet tall, and numbered in the billions. They were a vital part of the forest ecology, a key food source for wildlife, and an essential component of the human economy. In the beginning of the 20th century the fungal pathogen responsible for chestnut blight, accidentally imported from Asia, spread rapidly through the American chestnut population and by 1950 it had killed an estimated four billion mature trees from Maine to Georgia. Several attempts to breed blight-resistant trees in the mid-1900s were unsuccessful.
In 1983, a dedicated group of scientists formed The American Chestnut Foundation with a mission to develop blight-resistant American chestnut trees. Now assisted by nearly 6,000 members, volunteers, and partners, the organization is undertaking the planting of potentially blight-resistant trees in select locations throughout the eastern U.S.