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njp9 t1_isdj1qc wrote

Reply to comment by [deleted] in Are chestnut trees nearly extinct here? Today I found a tree dropping the largest chestnuts I've ever seen. by thishasntbeeneasy

Yes, almost all chestnuts in the US we're killed by a fungus brought in with Chinese chestnuts in the first half of the 20th century. They still sprout up from remaining roots but usually die off before bearing fruit as the fungus attacks them as they get older. There are several projects being carried out that seek to restore American Chestnuts to eastern forests and a few trees in isolated locations that remain.

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[deleted] t1_isdjaso wrote

Thanks.

That's a shame though I hope folks smarter than me can find a solution to restore them

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njp9 t1_isdjtnd wrote

Yes, lots of smart people working on it at SUNY ESF. If you like to read, the first chapter of The Overstory by Richard Powers has a beautiful and tragic telling of the story of the American Chestnut.

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[deleted] t1_isdk1zr wrote

Just threw that book in my Amazon cart. Looks interesting. Thanks again

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JCEkard88 t1_iselk4e wrote

Good story in NY Times on 9/16/2022 that documents the effort to resurrect the American chestnut tree in Appalachia.

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Sigogglin1 t1_ise7qme wrote

I use to volunteer for the forestry department of Kentucky replanting native trees on strip mine sites. We would plant an American Chestnut hybrid which if I remember correctly was 90 percent American and 10 percent Chinese. The hybrid was way more resilient to the disease.

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