Tim Casson, full-time resident in the Dyers Bay area, spoke at BPEG’s June 5th meeting about the near extinction of the American Chestnut tree in the early 1900s, and ongoing efforts in the US and Canada to revive the species. Tim operates a large woodlot where he has planted so many thousands of trees he’s lot count. He is especially interested in efforts to breed disease-resistent chestnut stock, and is part of the Canadian Chestnut Council, the organization that leads Canadian work on breeding Chestnut Blight resistant stock.
Until the early 1900s the American Chestnut made up from 1/4 to 1/3 of the forest canopy of the eastern US and forests in Canada’s Carolinean zones. By 1920 the tree was all but erased from the landscape. The problem was identified in 1904 as a parasitic fungus, Cryphonectria parasitica, imported with Japanese nursery stock. Within 20 years, what became known as the Chestnut Blight changed forests unimaginably, toppling mature chestnut trees that grew to 100 feet in height and 10 to 14 feet in diameter at the base. These were magnificent creatures, known as the Redwood of the east. They provided 50 feet of clear lumber in their trunks for barns, fences, furniture and caskets. Their bark was the major source of tannin for hide curing, and nuts were so pentiful that they were a valued cash crop and souce of cattle feed.
As early as the 1930s scattered efforts began to find resistant tree stock. This work is now led in the US by the American Chestnut Foundation, and in Canada the Canadian Chestnut Council The breeding program in Canada, beginning in the early 80s, has now reached 3 generations, producing specimens that are increasingly successful at surviving blight innoculations. Breeding stock primarily comes from actual nuts that were grown by hand pollinating select trees that show good resistance levels to the Blight
Special trees are also created by rooting cuttings taken from branches on select trees and from various grafting techniques.
To date, revival efforts take place in controlled environments, but Tim can see a time when successful trees could be reintroduced to the wild. Over the decades to come, our more southern forests could once again be home to these beautiful and valuable trees. For more information visit the Canadian Chestnut Council website at www.canadianchestnutcoucil.ca.
