Claud E. Kitchens Outdoor School at Fairview takes pride in maintaining relationships with local schools and organizations. On our campus, we have a Chestnut Tree interpretative pavilion designed to educate students and the public on the history of the American Chestnut Tree in North America. For those unaware of this story I will summarize it below.
It comes from the following website:
http://www.esf.edu/chestnut/background.htm
"History of the American chestnut and the chestnut blight before the turn of the century, the eastern half of the United States was dominated by the American chestnut. Because it could grow rapidly and attain huge sizes, the tree was often the outstanding visual feature in both urban and rural landscapes. The wood was used wherever strength and rot-resistance was needed. In colonial America, chestnut was a preferred species for log cabins, especially the bottom rot-prone foundation logs. Later posts, poles, flooring, and railroad ties were all made from chestnut lumber. The edible nut was also a significant contributor to the rural economy. Hogs and cattle were often fattened for market by allowing them to forage in chestnut-dominated forests. Chestnut ripening coincided with the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season, and turn-of-the-century newspaper articles often showed train cars filled to overflowing with chestnuts rolling into major cities to be sold fresh or roasted. The American chestnut was truly a heritage tree.
All of this began to change at or slightly before the turn of the century with the introduction of Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight. This disease reduced the American chestnut from its position as the dominant tree species in the eastern forest to little more than an early-succession-stage shrub. There has been essentially no chestnut lumber sold in the United States for several decades and the bulk of the annual 20-million-pound nut crop now comes from introduced chestnut species or imported nuts.
Despite its decimation as a lumber and nut-crop species, the American chestnut has not gone extinct. The species has survived by sending up stump sprouts that grow vigorously in logged or otherwise disturbed sites, but inevitably succumb to the blight and die back to the ground. The most recent USDA Forest Service survey for New York State indicates that there may be as many as 60 million of these sprout clumps in New York State, a rich gene pool for starting a restoration effort."
The Chestnut Tree interpretative pavilion was constructed by Eagle Scout David Paddock. He is pictured below, following the dedication of the pavilion several years ago.
It comes from the following website:
http://www.esf.edu/chestnut/background.htm
"History of the American chestnut and the chestnut blight before the turn of the century, the eastern half of the United States was dominated by the American chestnut. Because it could grow rapidly and attain huge sizes, the tree was often the outstanding visual feature in both urban and rural landscapes. The wood was used wherever strength and rot-resistance was needed. In colonial America, chestnut was a preferred species for log cabins, especially the bottom rot-prone foundation logs. Later posts, poles, flooring, and railroad ties were all made from chestnut lumber. The edible nut was also a significant contributor to the rural economy. Hogs and cattle were often fattened for market by allowing them to forage in chestnut-dominated forests. Chestnut ripening coincided with the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season, and turn-of-the-century newspaper articles often showed train cars filled to overflowing with chestnuts rolling into major cities to be sold fresh or roasted. The American chestnut was truly a heritage tree.
All of this began to change at or slightly before the turn of the century with the introduction of Cryphonectria parasitica, the causal agent of chestnut blight. This disease reduced the American chestnut from its position as the dominant tree species in the eastern forest to little more than an early-succession-stage shrub. There has been essentially no chestnut lumber sold in the United States for several decades and the bulk of the annual 20-million-pound nut crop now comes from introduced chestnut species or imported nuts.
Despite its decimation as a lumber and nut-crop species, the American chestnut has not gone extinct. The species has survived by sending up stump sprouts that grow vigorously in logged or otherwise disturbed sites, but inevitably succumb to the blight and die back to the ground. The most recent USDA Forest Service survey for New York State indicates that there may be as many as 60 million of these sprout clumps in New York State, a rich gene pool for starting a restoration effort."
The Chestnut Tree interpretative pavilion was constructed by Eagle Scout David Paddock. He is pictured below, following the dedication of the pavilion several years ago.
In collaboration with Tom Scrivner and Gary Carver, members of the Maryland Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation, Fairview acquired B3 F3 Chestnut trees as part of an on-going experiment which involves scientific attempts to genetically eradicate the blight that is responsible for the deaths of Chestnut trees as stated in the summary above. We now have eight B3 F3 trees at this pavilion in various stages of growth. There is hope that in the spring of 2015, Tom and Gary will extract pollen from several of the healthier trees at this site to continue their research.
Update:
On Monday, November 24, four students from the Clear Spring High School Ag Mechanics class helped to plant four additional B3 F3 trees at this site. Their names were:
Jacqueline Johnson
Lane McCusker
Dennis Keadle and
Noah Fridley
The Imovie below followed by the picture slideshow helps to tell a tale of collaboration with students and organizations. We are grateful for relationships with schools and organizations such as the Maryland Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and the Boy Scouts for their continued involvement in developing our program to educate students and the public at large. If you have an interest in visiting this Chestnut Tree interpretative pavilion please contact us 301-766-8138.
Update:
On Monday, November 24, four students from the Clear Spring High School Ag Mechanics class helped to plant four additional B3 F3 trees at this site. Their names were:
Jacqueline Johnson
Lane McCusker
Dennis Keadle and
Noah Fridley
The Imovie below followed by the picture slideshow helps to tell a tale of collaboration with students and organizations. We are grateful for relationships with schools and organizations such as the Maryland Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation and the Boy Scouts for their continued involvement in developing our program to educate students and the public at large. If you have an interest in visiting this Chestnut Tree interpretative pavilion please contact us 301-766-8138.
The slideshow below includes snapshots with Dr. Carver, Tom Scrivner, and Holly Haslip from Clear Spring High who have been working with us to improve the Chestnut Tree site.
