Monday, April 9, 2007
American Chestnut Trees
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/articlef2006/05/19.._ The chestnut foundation has been working for about 15 years to develop a blight-resistant variety. The goal is to infuse the American chestnut with the blight-resistant genes of the Chinese chestnut. American chestnuts once made up about 25 percent of the forests in the eastern United States, with an estimated 4 billion trees from Maine to Mississippi and Florida. The trees helped satisfy demand for roasted chestnuts, and their rot-resistant wood was used to make fence posts, utility poles, barns, homes, furniture and musical instruments. Then these magnificent hardwoods, which could grow to a height of 100 feet and a diameter of 8 feet or more, were almost entirely wiped out by a fast-spreading fungus discovered in 1904. "There are no chestnuts roasting on an open fire, and if they are, they're Chinese," Keehn said.
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Through the hardwork of volunteers and staff members, the ABA/GLCC has been growing and preserving Chestnut trees for over 20 years. Larry Jansen was probably responsible for developing this interest. No one else cared much about the trees, called to offer help or even sent a donation to help cover expenses. Now, some folks seem to think the proposed development will threaten a stand of Chestnut trees on the property. A stand which many of them never knew existed until now. The trees are nestled in an area that will not be affected by the development.
By the way, the ABA/GLCC has many other chestnut trees on their grounds that their volunteers have grown and nurtured for years. Just in case you thought they didn't care about the chestnut trees, now you know you were wrong!
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