The resurrection of an American king: the chestnut returns

October 26, 3:04 PMLetcher County Civil Rights ExaminerReid Krell

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Unfortunately, many of our readers have never seen an American chestnut. So, for those who are wondering, here's what they look like:

Source: Wikimedia Commons, Author: Jaknouse (I swear that's how it's listed).

The reason most of you have probably never seen a chestnut in real life (I've only seen seedlings) is because they all died. Well, okay, not all, but "virtually eliminated" is pretty close. At a tree planting run by Headwaters and the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI) at Caracassonne in March, forty-three American chestnuts were planted, gifts from the American Chestnut Foundation (ACF). At a survivability survey in September that I participated in, we spotted several of them, which gives us hope that they'll survive in the short term. What isn't known, however, whether they'll survive in the long run, because of the chestnut blight. While it is believed that the planted chestnuts are bred for blight resistance, it's unknown whether those efforts will be successful until they mature and it can be seen whether they become infected.

Just in case you don't want to read the Wikipedia article, here's the least you need to know:

• American chestnuts were once believed to be 25% of American forests, with up to three billion trees on the North American continent.
• The blight is a fungus that was brought over on Asian chestnuts, which have evolved a resistance to the blight. American chestnuts, which had no resistance, were easy prey for the blight.
• It's believed that there are fewer than 100 mature specimens of American chestnuts left east of the Mississippi.
• While chestnuts do grow back, due to their root systems having resistance, they rarely reproduce.

But there is good news to be had. The process of developing a blight-resistant American chestnut appears to be bearing fruit (pun oh so very intended). Twelve hundred chestnut saplings have been planted by ACF in conjunction with the National Park Service and the University of Tennessee (I know, it's Tennessee, but bear with me). Thus far, the saplings have survived one year. Everybody cross your fingers and hope. If this works, we may be able to restore the Appalachian forests to what they once were 110 years ago.

If this is something that matters to you, you can contact Headwaters at letcherwater@gmail.com, or ARRI at pangel@osmre.gov, and ask how you can get involved in restoring the American Chestnut.