Revitalizing The American Chestnut Tree In Stamford

Stamford CT

14 May, 2021

2:43 PM

Description

STAMFORD, CT—Two nonprofits have partnered up to help revitalize and bring awareness to the American Chestnut tree - a tree that once dominated New England forests for years. On Friday, the Stamford Land Conservation Trust (SLCT) planted chestnut seedlings with The American Chestnut Foundation. The plantings consisted of six trees - three at the Helen Altschul Preserve, and three at the Birch Meadow Preserves in Stamford. This will allow the public to interact with the trees and learn about their history and the mission to restore them. The American Chestnut tree used to comprise approximately 25-40% of the forests in Connecticut. The trees were a vital source of food for billions of humans, wildlife and livestock, going back to when people began to settle in the Northeast. Chestnuts would be brought into New York City by the trainload, and the trees would provide great shade for farms and homes. But around the turn of the century, everything changed. A fungal blight from Asia, believed to be brought over to the U.S. on wooden shipping pallets, began to spread. It was first discovered at the New York Botanical Gardens, but there was no way to contain it as the disease brought the trees to the brink of extinction. "It killed four billion trees in a matter of decades, all up and down the Northeast," said SLCT Chief Steward, Aubrey Carter. "All of these trees disappeared, and with that, all the ecological benefits disappeared. A lot of food went away for both animals and humans. The trees were just a part of what the Northeast and New England were known for." There are still a handful of surviving trees, but they're not reproducing, Carter said. The new plantings in Stamford will be a mix of entirely American Chestnuts and American Chestnuts that have been backcrossed with an Asian chestnut species in hopes of transferring genes that convey disease resistance. A planting from Friday's event in Stamford. (photo from Aubrey Carter)"We are hoping that by planting these chestnut seedlings along these trails, people will be able to recognize the American chestnut and learn about the blight that devastated them," said Jack Swatt, President of the CT Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation. "We are working hard to bring this species back to Connecticut forests and seeing these trees might inspire some people to get involved with our organization or other conservation causes such as the Stamford Land Trust." Carter called the partnership unique, and that this is more of an educational planting than a scientific undertaking. "This is to inform the visitors to the preserves what the forest might have looked like 150 years ago. These trees would have dominated the forest, along with chestnuts falling in the fall. It will allow people to kind of interact with this piece of history," he said. Carter hopes that he'll be able to see chestnuts falling on the Altschul and Birch Meadow Preserves in the future. A mature chestnut tree can get up to 80-100 feet, but these plantings are not expected to be that big. "It's a great opportunity and hopefully it goes well and we get trees that reach maturity and eventually drop seed. That's the overall goal. That we will one day have chestnuts falling on the preserve," Carter said. For more information on the SLCT, click here. For more on The American Chestnut Foundation, click here.