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Blight-Resistant Am. Chestnut Trees
Hat tip Instapundit. EFLAfter watching President Bush plant a 16-foot American chestnut tree in honor of National Arbor Day (4/29 this year), Marshal Case of Shaftsbury, Vt. called it the beginning of "the greatest environmental achievement of this century." Admittedly, he might be slightly biased. For Case, who is president of the American Chestnut Foundation headquartered in Bennington, Vt., it was a crowning achievement: Nearly once extinct, his beloved chestnut is healthy again and gracing the White House's North Lawn. "This is a tremendous day for us," he said. "This is a big thing. Every president plants a species of tree historically. I didn't know that, although there are quite a few presidents represented in the collection of the Historic Tree Nursery.The American chestnut is President Bush's tree." In a private meeting with the president before the ceremonial planting, Case said, they talked about trees — with Bush telling Case about the 16,000 trees he had planted at his Texas ranch. So nyaaa to all the BDS-raddled Greens out there! The tree planted Friday came from a research farm in Virginia, where blight resistance was bred into the native chestnut with the help of the Chinese chestnut. The American chestnut, prized for its timber and its crop of glossy dark nuts, once dominated Eastern forests from Maine to Georgia. The graceful trees were virtually wiped out by blight starting at the turn of the 20th century. That loss, Case said, "was the greatest environmental disaster in the Western Hemisphere since the Ice Age." Yes, indeed. Possibly slightly biased. Now, after years of breeding, cloning and crossbreeding, the U.S. Department of Agriculture is ready to reintroduce disease-resistant chestnuts to Eastern forests next year. Case says the chestnut is also poised for a comeback that could reclaim the scarred face of closed coal mines. It can also absorb carbons released into the air by fuel-fired plants in the Midwest, he said. Kyoto, anyone? Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-26 |
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