Tom Reynolds, Susan Bergen, and Jack Swatt
New Canaan Land Trust is joining the American Chestnut Foundation’s (TACF) initiative to restore the American chestnut to the eastern forests of North America. Thanks to the efforts of board member Tom Reynolds, NCLT has been approved to receive several disease-resistant seeds from the foundation’s Connecticut chapter. Tom, fellow board members Susan Bergen and Eads Johnson met this week with Jack Swatt, President of TACF’s Connecticut chapter, to discuss optimum planting locations at our new Grupes House headquarters.
The American Chestnut’s History
The American chestnut (Castanae dentata), once a dominant tree of the eastern forests, grew fast and tall with leaves and an abundant nut crop that sustained all levels of the ecological food chain. Chestnuts also enriched the diets of indigenous peoples and frontier settlers by providing calorie-dense nuts that were high in vitamin C and antioxidants, and could be stored for winter consumption when other food sources were scarce. Chestnut wood proved valuable as lumber as it was strong and rot-resistant.
Natural range of the American Chestnut, from an article published in Chestnut Magazine by Sara Fitzsimmons, TACF Director of Restoration
The mighty chestnut began its decline in the late 1800s with the arrival of a deadly pathogen, Cryphonectria parasitica, from Asia. Within a span of 50 years, close to four billion chestnut trees died throughout Appalachia. The loss of the chestnut as a valuable food source devastated rural agricultural populations. It took a heavy toll on birds and wildlife, including white-tailed deer, wild turkeys, and the now extinct passenger pigeon.
A family posed in front of a dead chestnut tree in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, circa 1920. Photo credit: Chestnut Foundation.
Browne Preserve: Home to an Original Chestnut Tree
The blight, however, did not kill the underground roots. New growth continued to sprout from the stumps, but unfortunately, the trees could not reach maturity before succumbing to their fate. NCLT’s Browne Preserve is home to one of the original chestnut trees, which grows near the large glacial moraine near the top of the hill overlooking Grupes Reservoir. It sprouts and re-sprouts but is always felled by the pathogen before it can flower and produce nuts.
Promising News
The promising news is that disease-resistant hybrid versions of the American chestnut have been developed through the efforts of TACF. Working in a multi-year collaboration with various scientific partners, government agencies, and research universities, they have successfully crossbred the rootstock of the American trees with disease-resistant Chinese ones. Some of the new specimens were then backcrossed with their American parent trees to produce offspring that are genetically 94% American chestnut and 6% Chinese chestnut, and disease-resistant.
NCLT is excited to participate in this project to reintroduce the American chestnut to the eastern forests and New Canaan. We are on schedule to receive our experimental seeds for planting in early June. Stay tuned for updates!
The next generation of American Chestnut
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