Bringing back the American chestnut

HAWLEY - There is a move afoot to bring back the nearly extinct American Chestnut tree. The public is welcome to attend a presentation on the American Chestnut and the tree breeding program the American Chestnut Foundation is pursuing to bring back the species from a deadly blight that virtually eliminated the tree in the early 1900’s. Robin Wildermuth, Land Manager at the Blooming Grove Hunting and Fishing Club and Josh Flad, forester at the Milford Experimental Forest will present a talk and slide show at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Apr. 17 at the PPL Environmental Learning Center, U.S. Route 6 in Hawley. The workshop is held in cooperation with The Lackawaxen River Conservancy on its monthly meeting night. The Lackawaxen River Conservancy is an organization established for the protection and preservation of the Lackawaxen River, its wildlife, watershed and natural beauty. The American Chestnut was once the dominant forest tree in many areas of the Poconos and a significant component of our forests prior to 1910 when an Asian blight swept through the Chestnut population. The early settlers relied on the Chestnut for building, furniture lumber, fence posts, fuel wood and edible nuts. It was a tremendous asset to wildlife habitat with consistent crops of highly nutritious wildlife food for bear, deer, turkeys, grouse and small mammals. The tree produces larger and more consistent nut crops than the oak and hickory species which have filled the void in many of the Appalachian forests where it once dominated. The loss of the Chestnut had a devastating impact on the forest ecology, timber value and wildlife populations of the region. Today, the Chestnut exists as root sprouts in the under story and scattered smaller trees in the forest. For the past several decades, scientists and volunteers with the American Chestnut Foundation have been pursuing a breeding program to create a resistant line of Chestnut. The presentation will cover the history of the Chestnut blight, characteristics of the tree, wildlife interactions and the program the American Chestnut Foundation scientists have created to bring back the tree throughout its range, including local efforts in Pike County to locate and include local trees in the breeding program. The local efforts are supported by volunteers and supporters, including Pike Quality Deer Management Association members, PPL, Blooming Grove Hunting & Fishing Club and the Milford Experimental Forest. This program is free and open to the public. For questions or to register please call 570-226-8220, e-mail mulmer@pikepa.org or visit www.pikeconservation.org . This program is part of a series sponsored by the Pike Conservation Partnership. Partners include the Pike County Conservation District, Pike County Office of Community Planning, Delaware Highlands Conservancy, Penn State Cooperative Extension, The Nature Conservancy, The Lackawaxen River Conservancy, Pocono Environmental Education Center, Alliance to Keep Pike Green, Upper Delaware Visioning Committee and the Pinchot Institute of Conservation.