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Planting the Future

How we’re helping to bring back the American Chestnut

Because of our ongoing support of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), and due to our recent participation of their Legacy Program, we became eligible to receive two precious chestnut seedlings known as “BC3F3” seedlings. Our job is to keep them alive and send the foundation some growth data on these trees each year to help them with their research.

For 25 years now, TACF has been in the process of breeding hybrid chestnut trees for the eventual release into the public domain. These trees very closely resemble pure American chestnut trees but without the susceptibility to the disease known as chestnut blight and with resistance to insect pests and other major pathogens of chestnuts.

The breeding method the foundation uses is known as the “backcross” method wherein lines of American chestnut stock are outcrossed once to other species of chestnuts carrying genetic resistance to chestnut blight, and successive generations of such outcrosses are then repeatedly backcrossed to American chestnut to recover the desirable characteristics of the American chestnut tree while incorporating blight resistance. Whew! Got it?

This is complicated scientific stuff and it’s expensive. But when you think we once had four billion of these magnificent trees in our American forests and now we might have a chance to get them back, it’s all worth it.

So this is why we are supporting this all-important cause and it’s why it’s such a big deal to have these seedlings here in our tree farm. We are a part of the solution! Hopefully, in time these trees will grow, pollinate and we’ll have many more growing in our company tree farms, and maybe one day, chestnuts roasting again on the open fire!

If you’re in the area, be certain to stop by Banks Hardwoods and learn more about our company and what we’re planting for our future.