In The News
In a recent article by New York magazine's Intelligencer, journalist Kate Morgan details the history of the development of the Darling 58 transgenic American chestnut tree, the discovery that it was, in fact, Darling 54, and how that impacted the...
2024 American Chestnut Photo Contest Lace up your hiking boots and keep your phone or camera handy, because it’s time for this year’s American Chestnut Photo Contest. We want to see...
The American Chestnut Foundation Supports Reforestation, Nurseries, and Genetics Resources Program and Ohio’s New Seedling Nursery Asheville, NC, February 29, 2024 The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) celebrates the work of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) toward the successful reopening of the Buckeye Nursery in Zanesville, OH. Early in February, Ohio Governor Mike DeWine signed a bill to re-create...
Asheville, NC, December 8, 2023 The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) announced today that it will discontinue its development of the Darling 58 American chestnut due to significant performance limitations that, from TACF’s perspective, make it unsuitable as a restoration tree. Likewise, TACF is also withdrawing its support for several pending regulatory petitions that...
You can help conserve the American chestnut by collecting scion wood The American Chestnut Foundation is seeking scion wood from wild American chestnut trees from the southern population. (Scion wood is the name for the twigs used in grafting and propagating woody plants.) Population studies have determined that trees found in Western TN and KY, GA, AL, and MS represent...
Over a brisk weekend in early October, during the Annual West Virginia Chestnut Festival in Rowlesburg Mark Double, WV-TACF Chapter President, retired from his duties. Chapter Board member Lewis A. Cook shared these kind words about his time with Mark. If we are fortunate,...
By Hannah Leeper, Southern Regional Outreach Coordinator Thank you to President Doug Gillis and the other members and volunteers of TACF’s Carolinas Chapter who attended our virtual meeting on September 20, 2023! This meeting, the first held since the COVID-19 pandemic, included a presentation by Regional Science Coordinator Jamie Van Clief about ongoing science strategies, a listing of current and upcoming volunteer...
Many Indigenous cultures share a long history with the American chestnut tree. The tree provided an important supply of food and, in turn, many Indigenous Peoples managed landscapes to improve habitat for chestnut trees.
On Saturday, August 26, the Kentucky Chapter held a special annual meeting in Berea. This year, in addition to the usual chapter business, a fun and informative 40th anniversary event took place, which included talks from TACF staff and KY Chapter members, a viewing of the documentary Clear Day Thunder: Rescuing the American Chestnut, a walk in the woods to view small American chestnut trees,...
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is excited to announce the release of CLEAR DAY THUNDER: Rescuing the American Chestnut, a documentary about the grassroots efforts of passionate citizen scientists and researchers working to restore this ecologically and economically significant tree species.
The Tennessee Chapter held a very successful one-day pollination workshop on Saturday, June 10, 2023, at the beautiful Chestnut Ridge Orchard in Middle Tennessee. The workshop was a hands-on opportunity to learn and practice techniques to make controlled crosses for TACF’s breeding program.
Kentucky Chapter partners and volunteers showed awesome teamwork in pollination efforts this year. Our American chestnut tree flowers matured over a wide range of dates in June 2023. This year we created a chart of “Prime Flower Maturity” dates of trees...