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| Blight-Resistant Am. Chestnut Trees |
| 2005-05-26 |
| Hat tip Instapundit. EFL After 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 |
| #12 there were chestnut trees growing fine on the block in Brooklyn where I grew up. My understanding is that they were sufficiently isolated from other trees (this being Brooklyn, after all) that they werent exposed to the blight. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2005-05-26 14:18 |
| #11 [The chestnut} can also absorb carbons released into the air by fuel-fired plants in the Midwest, he said. Absorbing carbon dioxide isn't exactly a distinctive characteristic of chestnut trees. A little biased, but I like a man who's excited about his work. |
| Posted by: VAMark 2005-05-26 14:14 |
| #10 There are isolated stands of chestnut trees scattered around the country that for one reason or another proved to be resistant to blight. But a lot of the chestnut trees that supposedly died off and were cut down continue to grow from their roots which IIRC are ressitant ot the blight. But hte new growth does not last and soon dies off. Of course the more radical enviro whack jobs will decry this as human meddling |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2005-05-26 13:23 |
| #9 BrerRabbitt: It seems that the site you cited does not have blight-resistant seedlings, only "pure" ones. Unless they buried the info about getting blight-resistant seedlings on some other page. |
| Posted by: Carl in N.H. 2005-05-26 12:08 |
| #8 a lady a few blocks away has a old chestnut tree still alive... |
| Posted by: 3dc 2005-05-26 11:53 |
| #7 This is a great achievement--there are way too few of these left in Appalachia. Time for the comeback! |
| Posted by: Dar 2005-05-26 10:27 |
| #6 It would be wonderful to see more of these beautiful trees once again. |
| Posted by: Tkat 2005-05-26 09:30 |
| #5 Found the website... http://www.acf.org/ ...gonna preorder some for the fall planting. Thanks for the article, I didn't know they had developed a resistant strain. I did hear a few years ago of the discovery of old growth in the North Carolina Smokies that had survived. These must have been the foundation for the new seedlings. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2005-05-26 09:04 |
| #4 The town back in Mass where I grew up had rows of huge elm trees lining the streets and parks. I remember the Dutch Elm disease going through and killing them all. Glad to see they finally have figured out a way to replace them. |
| Posted by: Steve 2005-05-26 08:30 |
| #3 I searched the website, Brother Bunny, but can't find that the blight resistant trees are for sale yet. And they're sold out of regular survivor seedlings for this year. But in the meantime, you can get a disease resistant American Elm The NYT had an article naming some suppliers a few years ago, and the Princeton variety may be available at the better garden shops in your area. Hope that helps! |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2005-05-26 07:49 |
| #2 I had a cousin die of the Dutch Elm disease. The family still won't talk about it. |
| Posted by: Walter Mitty 2005-05-26 07:09 |
| #1 Where can one purchase some of these. I'd like to add a few to the property? They grow well here in Tennessee. |
| Posted by: BrerRabbit 2005-05-26 06:01 |