American Chestnut Tree

[Larry Frank]

I read an article in USAToday about the work that is ongoing to grow blight resistant Chestnut trees.

The blight which was first noticed in 1904 eventually killed 4 Billion trees. (No, that is not a mistake - 4 Billion).

The American Chestnut Foundation is reporting that they have 1200 one year old saplings that they are following and none has shown evidence of the blight. The trees are 94% American Chestnut and 6% Chinese Chestnut. Unfortunately, it will take 15-20 years to know for certain if they are really blight resistant.

While there is some reason for optimism for the Chestnut tree, I do not think there is not much for the Ash trees with the Emerald Ash Borer, for the Hemlock and the woolly adelgid, or for the elm tree with Dutch elm disease.

It is sad to think of all of the trees and wood that have been devastated with largely imported diseases.

[Jim Becker]

Yes, there is a lot of work out there being done to try and bring back a version of the American Chestnut. I know that Penn State is involved in the effort, too.

I've occasionally seen a resistant one. In fact, there's one on Bill Grumbine's property in eastern PA that's magnificent.

[Ben West]

You're right, Larry. We are losing several species of trees due to exotic diseases or pests, and we may be able to do nothing about it.

I do wish more woodworkers were really informed and passionate about the conservation of trees. Hunters, for example, contribute a lot to the conservation of wildlife. Relatively few woodworkers know or care much about the big issues regarding trees.

By the way, if you love trees, you should watch this:

http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/richard_preston_on_the_giant_trees.html

In the video, Richard Preston talks mostly about redwoods, but also mentions the Hemlock crisis.

[Lee Schierer]

While there is some reason for optimism for the Chestnut tree, I do not think there is not much for the Ash trees with the Emerald Ash Borer, for the Hemlock and the woolly adelgid, or for the elm tree with Dutch elm disease.

It is sad to think of all of the trees and wood that have been devastated with largely imported diseases.

I have American Elm trees growing on my property here in NW PA. They get to be 6-12" in diameter and then die from the disease; however, most get old enough to produce offspring so who knows if one will figure out how to cope with the disease.

[Julian Nicks]

My neighbor had a 100 year old American elm that was struck by lightning last year and he had to have it cut down. His loss was my gain as I had it milled and got 300 bf of 17"-24" wide boards that I dried in my solar kiln. That tree wasn't affected by Dutch elm disease for some reason even though most of the elms around here met their demise quite a while ago.

[Mark Patoka]

My wife and I were just talking about the numerous tree diseases out there after reading in FWW last night about the Thousand Cankers disease that's affecting the Black Walnut trees out west and could easily spread to the eastern US.

Are we looking at a situation 50 years from now where we could easily lose several more very common and valuable species like the Chestnut and Elm?

People seem to get fired up about global warming and other issues but the loss of trees is another "silent killer" that most people just don't know about and don't recognize the impact as there are always trees that will come in and replace those that disappear.

Species that I'm aware of that could be lost/severely impacted: black walnut, butternut, hemlock, ash and I'm sure there are a few others.

[Jim Becker]

I have American Elm trees growing on my property here in NW PA.

I have three of them at the front of our property near the road, Lee. So far, they have been quite healthy. However, I can see a marked change in the health of a number of other species on our land in recent years.

Sadly a good many, if not almost all, of the great American Elms that graced the Penn State campus in State College have had to be removed due to infection. They were absolutely magnificent trees for so many years, too.

[Richard M. Wolfe]

From the standpoint of woodworking it will really be something if the ash becomes a tree of "bygone days". I don't know how widespread chestnut lumber would have been, but for years ash was the cabinetmaker's wood of choice, at least in this part of the country.

[Art Mulder]

I've occasionally seen a resistant one. In fact, there's one on Bill Grumbine's property in eastern PA that's magnificent.

yet another reason why I'd like to get out to his "five barns" event someday...

This does ring a bell though. Does he do something with the chestnuts it produces? or have researchers come by his place to take samples or something like that?

...art
(who has never actually seen an american chestnut tree, and should someday!)

[Shawn Gillies]

We planted a young 8' Chestnut 7 years ago. I fell in love with it at our local Nursury with its huge buds in the springtime.
An old Uncle of mine said that when he was young, the Forests were almost 50 percent Chestnut.
Really strange thing with our tree is that it will Bud, grow a foot and a half then die off towards the middle of summer. The pictures of Blight that I saw on the Web, looked like that was what it was. A lady near us, and a dear friend of the Wifes looked at the tree and said it wasn't Blight but could not explain why it drops its leaves every year at the same time.

[Michael Wetzel]

I found a freshly dropped chestnut shell when I was at the cabin earlier in the week. I thought all of the chestnuts were dead in that area of Central PA. I need to go on a mission to find the tree in the spring.

[Larry Frank]

I would be very excited if it was really a chestnut. However, I have done some reading about them and many people mistake horse chestnuts or buckeyes for chestnuts. You might want to look up some pictures of each and compare what you saw.

[Michael Wetzel]

Nah.. it was a real chestnut. The one in front of the cabin died about 10-15 years ago. This was a fresh one..