HICKORY, NC (February 8, 2017)…The American Chestnut tree, once twenty-five percent of the hardwood forests of the eastern United States is virtually extinct, but there are hopes for its restoration. This is part of what members of Newcomers of Catawba County learned at their monthly general meeting held at the Hickory Regional Airport on 8 February 2017. Doug Gillis, president of the Carolina’s Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation presented an informative and interesting program on the decline of the American Chestnut and the work of the Foundation to achieve its restoration.

There are three chestnut varieties: American, European and Asian. The Asian variety is much hardier than the other two, but does not grow large enough for lumber and larger craft uses. The American and European varieties are similar, but the European has a larger and sweeter nut. The American Chestnut, at least in lower elevations, began to suffer from a root fungus, found in the water table, in the mid-1800’s. The piedmont and mountain forests were not subject to this malady, but were attacked in the early 1900’s by a white fungus which enters breaks in the bark and, in effect, girdles the tree so that the tree dies above the infestation. Cut or fallen trees will sprout new growth from the stump, but when the new growth tree matures and suffers a break in the bark, the fungus attacks again. Loss of the chestnut forest has caused a loss not only of very desirable lumber, but the fallen nuts were a significant and nutritious source of food for wildlife. Chestnut is a very desirable lumber, approaching oak in strength but at only two-thirds of the weight. It is also late-blooming and frost resistance, resulting in healthy trees reaching significant height and girth. As the blight spread in the early part of the 1900’s much of the diseased forest was harvested for timber and paper. Many Civilian Conservation Corps projects in mountain areas harvested and finished the damaged trees for lumber to build lodges and shelters in recreation areas that are still in use today.

The American Chestnut Foundation operates a breeding orchard and research laboratory in Meadowview VA and state-level chapters are also conducting independent and cooperative research. Current programs to blend blight-resistant characteristics of the Asian variety into the American have resulted in trees which are about 25 percent very resistant and fifty percent so-so resistant. Researchers at the State University of New York have also had success with “transgenetic” approaches, introducing wheat DNA into the chestnut genome with early results showing promise.

Perhaps one day the American Chestnut will again be widespread over the eastern seaboard. More information about the American Chestnut Foundation and its work is available at ACF.org. At the conclusion of the presentation Newcomers of Catawba Valley made a financial contribution to the Carolinas Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation.

Newcomers of Catawba Valley is primarily a social organization which enables new and long-time residents of the region to meet and make friends and participate in a variety of social activities, including support of area charities and service programs. For information about Newcomers of Catawba Valley see www.newcomersofcv.com.