Notes from a Nature Watcher
By John Roberts Sentinel Guest Writer

This little fawn rests beneath the security of one of our forest's precious trees.

In a recent forestry class I attended during my Georgia Master Naturalist course, the fate of the American Chestnut tree was the main topic. Before the chestnut blight struck its fatal blow to that marvelous tree species (thought to be four billion strong), it was said that a squirrel could travel from Maine to North Georgia never touching the ground and only using chestnut trees. Even without this chestnut superhighway plenty of squirrels manage to find our bird feeders.

The chestnut itself was a major factor in the economy of the eastern United States. It was also a valuable commodity, often collected by family members for home use as people and livestock food and/or for sale to raise much needed cash. The lumber was of superior quality for many uses and as firewood it was a favorite of the moonshine industry since it produced very little smoke thus making it difficult for the "revenuers" to find their stills. Some contend that that feature also contributed to the demise of the mighty chestmut. Many old buildings still attest to the durability and strength of the chestnut lumber and furniture makers have left a huge legacy of quality heirlooms. Hikers in our eastern forests often see these fallen giants and marvel at how long they have resisted the weather and organisms that return them back to the forest soils.

The American Chestnut Foundation was established in 1983 by a group of scientists determined to develop and implement a breeding program designed to produce chestnuts having resistance to the blight and thus restore this wonderful tree species to our eastern forests. They have collected the few surviving chestnuts and are using these and the resistant Chinese chestnut to assemble a gene pool. This diverse gene base has been used to create breeding nurseries. Modern genetic technologies and the Foundation's determination for success have led to steady and promising progress. To learn more about this wonderful program you may check their web site at: www.acf.org, or call at 802-447-0110. They would welcome your interest and support.

The American elm also now has Dutch Elm Disease resistant trees available thanks to the American Elm Foundation. These Liberty Elms are the result of a dedicated effort to restore it to our forests and cityscapes. I hope we can one day find that a similar effort will manage to restore the hemlocks currently being wiped out by the Hemlock Wooly Adelgid.

Many of the pests that have killed our native trees and threaten our crops are invasive species which have slipped through our borders. I wonder why similar pests can not slip past our border guards and endanger kudzu, dandelions, mosquitoes and other of our more undesirable species?

John Roberts is a Georgia Master Naturalist who is Camp Host at Trackrock Campground near Blairsville, Georgia. He is also a retired USDA-ARS Research Plant Pathologist having spent over 40 years as a scientist in wheat breeding and pathology.