Leila Pinchot has been the TACF Regional Science Coordinator for two years (May 2006) and has recently decided to pursue a PhD program at University of Tennessee, working with Dr. Scott Schlarbaum and Dr. Stacy Clark on a project that will include chestnut silviculture. Leila will make the shift from Yale to Knoxville in mid July.

Kendra Gurney, recent graduate of University of Vermont-MS in Natural Resources with a forestry concentration-will be joining our staff in mid-May for a smooth transition with Leila in the New England Science Coordinator position.

Kendra's research was on American chestnut restoration, working with Dr. Paul Schaberg of the USDAFS field station in Burlington, VT. Kendra was also instrumental in the formation of the NH/VT-15th state chapter of TACF. Kendra grew up on the NH seacoast and received her BS in Environmental Conservation Science with a self-designed minor in plant and forest health.

While we will miss Leila terribly, we whole-heartedly welcome Kendra to the New England Regional Science Coordinator position, and look forward to dong all sort of wonderful work with Kendra, restoring the chestnut, over the coming years.

Kendra Gurney hugging an American chestnut tree - Photo taken by Leila Pinchot

Leila Pinchot planting pitch pine at Greeley Labs. Leila will be leaving the position at TACF mid-summer and moving to Tennessee to pursue her PhD - Photo taken by Star Childs

The Yale Chapter of the Society of American Foresters (SAF) planted a chestnut demonstration orchard at the Yale-Myers Forest in Union this past weekend. Every Yale School of Forestry Student visits Yale-Myers forest before starting classes and will have the chance to see this orchard and learn about the chestnut blight and The American Chestnut Foundation. The below photo shows all of the students who helped plan the orchard, which is shown in the back. Special thanks to the Yale Graduate Forestry SAF class of 1980 who supplied funds for the fencing.

Members of the Yale Chapter of the Society of American Foresters who participated in today's planting - Photo taken by Tom Hodgeman

The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is breeding chestnut trees for ability to survive the blight disease, which killed almost all our native American chestnut. TACF’s goal is to confer on American chestnut the ability to thrive in our nation’s woodlands, as it once did. Last fall, TACF began harvesting nuts that it expects will be suitable for planting back into the forest. However, these breeding lines are still in the testing phase and their value needs to be proven on many forest sites until 2015 to 2020.

A gradual increase in seed production is expected over the next few years. These will be distributed to cooperators who are assisting in a formal, rigorous testing program. In addition, seeds that are not needed for this purpose will be distributed principally to members of TACF for informal testing. At the same time, TACF is continuing its breeding program to make further gains in disease resistance and forest competitiveness.

Celebrate Earth and Arbor Days by helping The American Chestnut Foundation plant an orchard in Guilford, CT. Our goal is to produce a blight resistant American Chestnut tree that will thrive in Connecticut. We're doing this using a traditional plant breeding and selection approach. In celebration of Earth Day, we plan to build a fence around the orchard on Saturday April 19th following weekend on Saturday April 26th, in celebration of Arbor Day, we will complete the fence, layout the orchard and plant. Plan to bring work clothes and a smile!

For more information contact Leila Pinchot at 598-5808, or Jennifer Allcock at 453-5041.

In this month's National Geographic there is a one page focus on the American chestnut.

click on image for larger size

In draft mode currently, we expect the newsletter to go to print next week. Click on the "download" link below to view (900kb).

Below are the links to the Newsletter in several formats

• Booked and ready for print - no indicia [20 mb] huge download!!!
• Web Resolution [1 mb]

For the period of the Hartford Flower Show (February 21-24, 2008) the Connecticut Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) is offering a special membership promotion - Enhanced Regular Memberships which include gifts of recently published and hard-to-find books celebrating the American chestnut.

This offer applies to Connecticut Residents only.

Regular Membership (benefits below) at $40 can be enhanced with one of two options.

• The Bark and New Leaf (quarterly TACF Newsletter and periodic Chapter Newsletter)
• The Journal of The American Chestnut Foundation (semi-annual scientific Journal)
• Membership in the Connecticut Chapter of TACF
• Access to expert advice on growing and caring for American chestnut trees.
• Opportunities to participate in local breeding and research activities.
• The opportunity to purchase American chestnut seed and seedling kits.
• Help ensure the future health of the eastern American forest ecosystem.
• Invitations to attend meetings and meet scientists working on chestnut research.
• A welcome to visit, tour, and/or volunteer at TACF and CT-TACF research farms

Option1 - Enhanced Regular Membership at $60 total - all the benefits of the Regular Membership plus “Mighty Giants - an American Chestnut Anthology” (in softcover -- list price $24.95)

Option 2 - Enhanced Regular Membership at $80 total - all the benefits of the Regular Membership plus “Mighty Giants - an American Chestnut Anthology” and “American Chestnut - Life, Death, and Rebirth of a Perfect Tree” by Susan Freinkel (in hardcover -- list price $27.50)

You can join by completing a membership at the show, or by registering directly at the TACF Website.

This first year of the Great Mountain Forest orchard on Under Mountain Road in Falls Village provides a new orchard for CT/TACF and on-the-ground education for me and local students. The most satisfying part of this experience is the inclusion of the Housatonic Valley Regional High School Vo Ag Science/Tech Department students as project partners. In late May under the tutelage of Leila Pinchot, these students laid out the planting, mixed soil and fertilizer, rolled tubes, and planted the nuts: In half the time anticipated! according to Leila. Subsequent Ag/Ed classes will follow through with chores when school is in season. Several individuals have offered summer help.

Canaan Mountain Rises behind the Orchard which is a partnership of GMFC, TACF and Housatonic Regional High School - Photo by Leila Pinchot

Arranged by Leila, the land--donated by Great Mountain Forest for TACF use -- is an acre and a half lot on the slopes of Canaan Mountain. This perfect setting is conveniently a few hundred yards from Chubby Bunny Farm, a local CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) operation owned and farmed by Dan and Tracy Hayhurst. I asked Dan whether he would be my back-up when I was unable to tend the orchard; his reply: Wow! American Chestnuts! That's great! I'll help any way I can. Dan has deep rototilled to prepare the land for planting and watered when I was unavailable, as well as providing me with the watering equipment for those dry summer weeks. In addition to my initial brush hogging of this old Christmas tree lot prior to planting, I have mowed twice--with the red tailed hawks swooping from high pine perches on the sides of the field to snatch voles and rabbits.

With seventy-five percent germination, and an average height between 17 and 20 inches this third back-cross generation is doing fine, now wintering over in blue tubes poking through the meadow snow, the tall ones with bag-caps to discourage the deer. We are working toward financing for a fence to keep the deer out, probably to be in place this coming summer. Toward that end, the Berkshire - Litchfield Environmental Council Executive Committee has just authorized a small grant.

I thank, in addition to teachers Mark Burdick and Dave Moran, the community members who have taken an interest, volunteered to work, weed and wonder that the American Chestnut is on its way back to our woodlands.

Ellery W. Sinclair, Manager
Great Mountain Forest Orchard

Article by Jason Young

Despite the enthusiasm of members of TACF and of other Chestnuts, public knowledge of American Chestnut remains esoteric at best. Today it may be equally likely that one would be introduced to chestnut by seeing it in a building as opposed to coming across a tree or the remains of a tree in the forest. Numerous volumes praise the qualities of the wood of chestnut, and it is no wonder countless structures have been built of chestnut. Connecticut is filled with these houses and barns, for the carpenter of yesteryear, there was no shortage of Chestnut.

Settlers could not have found a more suitable building wood than chestnut. The wood splits readily straight down the grain with wedge, maul or froe, and is easily worked with any tool whether it be an adze, chisel, hatchet or plane. While chestnut is not quite as strong as oak, it is considerably lighter and will outlast most oak when exposed to the elements. Chestnut's rot resistance, perhaps its finest quality, is well known.

[More]