Have you ever seen a fully grown American chestnut tree? Unless you are over one hundred years old, your answer would be no. But why have none of us seen these once numerous giants? Where did they go? Well, let me tell you a sad story of the past: the story of the American chestnut tree.
Many years ago, a canopy made up nearly entirely of American chestnut ran all the way from Maine to Georgia. A squirrel didn’t even have to touch the ground the whole way. Now there are only ghosts. Stumps. What happened? About a hundred years ago, Americans were stunned by anything foreign. They thought that things only found in exotic places needed to be introduced to American culture. Things such as exotic bird feathers became very popular, risking extinction for hundreds of now hunted birds of paradise. But something else caught the greedy eye of America: the Chinese chestnut tree. But was this a bad thing? No. Not by itself. But after Americans planted the Chinese chestnut all over the country people started seeing what was bad about it. Lurking inside the foreign tree was a foreign fungus. This fungus had evil intent. Slowly, it started to infect the ground and every single American chestnut tree was exposed to it. By the time we discovered our mistake, hundreds of these amazing trees were gone. Now they are all gone. But we are going to fix it. The ACF (American Chestnut Foundation) has been working diligently to fix our mistake. But how can they fix such a disaster? Here’s the answer: genes. Scientists have been crossing the Chinese chestnut with the last remaining American chestnuts to create a hybrid. A hybrid that can withstand the fungus. Nobody knows if this daring experiment will succeed, but we must do everything we can to bring back these amazing trees. If all goes well, the ACF will be planting the hybrid seeds all across the United States in five years. That means your children’s children may live to see these ginormous trees in their full glory. Let’s fix our mistake. Please visit www.acf.org for more details on the American Chestnut Foundation and their goal.
3 Comments
Kateryna Cuddeback
11/13/2016 06:41:41 pm
How great to see a story on the American chestnut! It's such a sad, little known story. I had no idea the new trees would be ready for planting so soon. It would be such a victory if the new hybrids survive! Thanks for this great post.
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