Bringing Back Chestnuts
Seedlings of rare tree take root in countyBy BRIAN FERRY bferry@timesobserver.com
The American Chestnut may be making a comeback in Warren County.
Thanks to the efforts of the American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), the Warren County Conservation District, a group of students from the Warren County Career Center and one man on a mission, nine seedlings are growing in Glade Township.
In May, a group of people planted 10 American Chestnut seeds in a field in the Hatch Run Conservation Demonstration Area (HRCDA).
Robbie Anderson of Sheffield worked toward the planting for months, contacting people, finding nuts to plant, getting information about how and where to plant them, drumming up support from government leaders and the media, and keeping the project in the minds of everyone involved.
"It was such an important tree to our pioneers right down the line," Anderson said.
According to TACF, "the American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in forests from Maine south to Georgia and from the Piedmont west to the Ohio River Valley."
The average mature tree was five feet in diameter, with some trees growing much larger - 10, 12, even 16 feet across, according to TACF.
The trees served as important sources of both food and timber.
"It was such an important tree to our pioneers right down the line," Anderson said.
"The tree was one of the best for timber," according to a publication from the TACF. "It grew straight and often branch-free for 50 feet. Loggers tell of loading entire railroad cars with boards cut from just one tree."
"Chestnuts were a major food source for wildlife and families living in the natural range of the tree," the TACF publication states.
"Native American tribes would survive all winter on just the nut from that tree," Anderson said. "They're the best tasting nut."
In 1904, all of that began to change.
The chestnut blight was brought from Asia into New York City.
By 1950, the fungus had killed an estimated four billion chestnut trees.
The foundation has been working to reintroduce American chestnut trees since 1983. The group is trying to develop a strain of American chestnut that is resistant to the blight.
Anderson combined efforts with the Warren County Conservation District's annual Bish Day. "Everything turned out great," he said.
With the help of about 20 automotive technology students from Warren County Career Center and automotive technology teacher Gary Bish, Anderson got his seeds in the ground.
They are planted in a field in the HRCDA off of Hatch Run Road.
On hand for the planting were TACF Tree Breeding Project Coordinator at Penn State University Sara Fitzsimmons, Scott Weikert of the Penn State Cooperative Extension, Mike Shanshala of TACF, John Nobles of the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Bureau of Forestry, Warren County Conservation District Technician Josh Dean, Governor Ed Rendell's Northwest Regional Office Director Howard Brush, and Luanne Munksgard of State Rep. Kathy Rapp's office.
According to Dean, nine of the 10 viable seeds have grown to a height of a few inches since they were planted.
Although the trees will not resist the blight, they will live for a while. According to TACF, carefully tended chestnuts will produce thousands of nuts within five years, will eventually grow to "large trees," and will perpetually resprout. The roots systems of the trees are not killed by the blight.
Anderson said he is looking forward to the return of the "mighty giants," the "king" of the Appalachian forests.
