Tennessee Heartwood
  • Welcome
  • Resources
    • Research and Studies
    • "Restoration" Logging at Hogback: The Monitoring Continues >
      • maps and data
    • timber sale monitoring in the cherokee
    • Research Opportunities: Smith Mountain Burn Exclusion Area
    • Legal Stuff
    • Getting Involved. >
      • National Forest Project Timeline Checklist >
        • Example Timber Sale
    • Freedom of Information Act
  • About
  • Contact
  • The Latest
    • Support the Land Between the Lakes
    • Restoration, Regeneration, and Resiliency: A Look at Three National Forest Management Strategies
    • Public Rights on our National Forests Under Attack >
      • Citizens Losing Voice on the Future of Our Federal Lands >
        • Getting Shut Out
        • the case for a public voice in our national forests
        • regular folks making a difference
        • National Forest Economics
        • wild alabama
        • rally for our rights
        • LBL Activism
        • Digging Deeper on the New National Forest Rule
        • The Three "R's"
    • Our New Interpretive Trail Signs Are Up at Stringer's Ridge
    • "Restoration" Logging at Hogback: The Monitoring Continues
    • The American Chestnut: Advocacy and Treasure Hunting
    • Land Between the Lakes
    • Smith Mountain Timber Sale Cancelled!
    • Riverbend
    • Prentice Cooper
    • Dinkey Sale
    • "Climate Change Resiliency"-the LBL's New Pine Project
  • Store
  • join us
  • Accomplishments
    • 2022 Accomplishments
    • 2021 Accomplishments
    • 2020 Accomplishments
    • 2019 Accomplishments
    • 2018 accomplishments
    • 2016 accomplishments
    • 2015 Accomplishments
    • 2014 Accomplishments
    • 2013 Accomplishments
  • Symposium Series
  • outings
    • Spring Wildflower Hike in the Citico Creek Wilderness
    • Hike to Foster Falls
    • Botanic Hike with Jay Clark at Pigeon Mountain
  • a summer of workshops
  • Smith Mountain Timber Sale Cancelled!
  • Events & Outings
  • Tennessee State Forests
  • Bridgestone Wilderness
  • bridgestone/firestone keeping promise
  • Open Habitats
  • Take Action on Bridgestone Wilderness
  • old growth forests
  • Support the Land Between the Lakes

Searching for Native Treasures:   Restoring the American Chestnut

The American Chestnut (Castanea dentata) has all but disappeared from its once majestic role as one of the dominant trees of the eastern US.  Following the chestnut blight's appearance in the early 20th century, chestnuts were reduced from being one of the great forest canopy trees to a few remnant sprouts that appear from sites of dead chestnut stumps.  Fortunately, the American Chestnut Foundation has been working to bring the chestnut back by backcrossing with European Chestnut to produce a 94% pure strain with some disease resistance.  The ACF is always looking for surviving chestnut in the wild that are able to live long enough to produce viable seed.  
Since we at Tennessee Heartwood are wandering in the woods a lot any way, we've always got our eye out for any tucked away chestnut treasures.  So far, we've found a number of good specimens, including a small grove of breeding upland trees at Linville Gorge in North Carolina.  After tipping off ACF to the site, we met some of their field folks at Linville to gather cuttings to add to their breeding stock. Thanks to BREDL Blue Ridge Environmental Defense League for joining in! See our slide show below.

If anyone knows of surviving chestnut that has reached breeding size, let us know.  We are always looking and are dedicated to protecting and restoring this great species!
Proudly powered by Weebly