Maine – About Us
The Maine chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) was established in 1999 to help restore the American chestnut tree to our corner of America here in Maine. We live at the northernmost end of its natural range where chestnuts, like Mainers, make due with less sunshine and more cold. These suboptimal conditions made for sparser populations of chestnuts (and people) than southern climes, even before the blight.
Maine is now home to more surviving, wild American chestnuts than any other state in its range. Our geography gives us the joyful job of finding those wild trees to gather and grow their nuts for breeding a blight resistant tree! Local trees could contribute genes adapted to growing conditions here in Maine, so a future, blight-resistant chestnut could still thrive in Maine.
The chapter’s goals are to: 1) Protect, conserve, preserve, and propagate trees from the remaining native American chestnut populations in Maine; 2) Restore American chestnuts to a place of ecological and economic importance and self-sustainability throughout their original range in Maine, and 3) Make blight-resistant American chestnuts available to the people of Maine as soon as possible.
With your help we intend to restore this iconic species to Maine’s landscape, its wildlife, and its people.
Board of Directors
Key Contacts
Mark McCollough, Chapter President
Thomas Klak, Vice President & Chair of Gene Conservation
Al Faust, Treasurer
Eric Evans, Breeding Coordinator
Eva Butler, Volunteer Coordinator
Ann Rea, Seed Sales
Board Members
David Allen, Portland
Peter Bohman, Monmouth
Eva Butler, St George
Robert Duiett, Searsport
Kirby Ellis, Hudson
Eric Evans, Camden
Albert C. Faust, Winterport
Charles Hudson, Liberty
Dr. Tom Klak, Saco
Ronald Lemin, Bangor
Hunter Manley, Old Town
Mark McCollough, Hampden
Nina Pearlmutter, Kennebunkport
Ann Rea, Bangor
Glen Rea, Bangor
Andy Reed, Unity
Dr. Brian Roth, Orono
Larry Totten, West Bath
Roger Willby, Bridgeton
Maine Chapter Menu
National Facebook
Pictured here: An 1891 circular for American chestnuts reveals the value of chestnuts to our community of growers and the agricultural pipeline that fed our families and communities. This circular shows $271,527 in sales from TWO months of harvesting. Today's value would be almost $9 million! The seller of these chestnuts probably paid less than $2/bushel wholesale but market rate was about $10 to $12 per bushel. According to research, the legal weight limit of a bushel of chestnuts was about 50 pounds (in TN) and 57 pounds (in VA). This two months of harvesting amounted to approximately 1.3 million pounds of chestnuts.
These numbers from 1981 are hard to believe. This was just prior to the introduction of chestnut blight in the USA when there was likely an abundance of trees and nuts. There is no header to indicate buyer / seller/ location. Dated Fall of 1890 is not a good business practice. The perfect print looks like it was done on a modern day grocery bag. Was this created by AI?
Where was the harvest? European or Japanese hybrids?
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When this happens, it's usually because the owner only shared it with a small group of people, changed who can see it or it's been deleted.This is a big plus if it relieves the growth rate of the tree from the cost of constitutive expression of the trans gene. Its inducibility needs to be appropriate, protective and stable in inheritance too. On the other hand, if the fungus is everywhere all the time, then maybe constant OxO expression will be more protective. The tree not only needs blight tolerance, it needs the unfettered speed of growth and height advantage that made it dominate forests in the first place. Nature will sort this out, given a good launch.
Would love to get my hands on some of these!
Very exciting developments in A. Chestnut resurrection!
When I was a kid in the '60's we went camping in the Smoky Mountains frequently. I remember being told by Rangers a Lot that Chestnuts were almost extinct. Are they back?
We have 20 acres of woods, former pasture, in Hebron, CT. Three streams, too!Feel free to plant some chestnuts here!❤️💕
That's a kick in the face towards someone who came up with the theory of natural selection. Wtf.
I want some soooooo bad!!
Cool--access to the entire article for those who want it!
My brother planted a bunch of these on his farm about 15 years or so back. They are doing good
Today is the deadline for the public comment period regarding the deregulation of the transgenic American chestnut tree, Darling 58! The USDA-APHIS will collect comments until 11:59PM (EST) today, January 26, 2023.
To learn a little more about these restoration efforst, check out this article that was published in December, by the Genetic Literacy Project. Please note the article mentions the prior deadline before the 30 day extension was granted. The deadline is today, January 26, 2023. Article link: buff.ly/3j7OIwh
To submit your comment, head over to our website at acf.org/resources-deregulation-darling58/ .
Biotech chestnut tree poised to restore lost ecosystems and biodiversity — But it needs your help
geneticliteracyproject.org
Chestnuts roasting on an open fire kindle iconic imagery of the season. However, the American chestnut (Castenea dentata) that once produced them is all but absent from the Appalachian forests that it...The slogan on the homepage of this article reads "Science, not Ideology"...that is how the 1960's slogan 'better living through science' enabled production and sale of the hundreds of agricultural chemicals/products that have been disappeared in our own lifetimes because of toxicity issues/safety regulations. Once biotech GMO's infiltrate our food systems there is no going back, and these companies are spending billions to disallow labeling and underwrite seemingly harmless projects like these that purport to be doing noble work. Science is important groundwork and should not be debased for commercial market profiteering from a system that of genetic engineering that pollutes all of the seeds of our collective cultural inheritance. Many of us that have long supported The American Chestnut Foundation will no longer work or support you (after years of being a huge advocate). Please back away from the seductive financial forces and get back to the work of true biodiversity preservation...and please say not to legislation that unleashes gmo's into our food supply and environment.
youtu.be/2VYviSHyB98
Meet Ciera! Our nursery manager at Meadowview Research Farms.
This interview is episode 1 of our new YouTube series "Behind the Bark."
Behind the Bark is a casual interview series by The American Chestnut Foundation to dive deeper into the lives of the wonderful people who are behind the mission of returning the iconic American chestnut to its native range.
The American Chestnut Foundation's Meadowview Research Farms
One of the biggest questions we receive is "how do I submit a public comment, what am I supposed to say?" The answer is pretty simple: why does the American chestnut tree matter to you? When submitting a comment, you just need to be unique and authentic. Tell your personal story of why the American chestnut is important to you: maybe your family grew up with chestnut trees and can remember when they filled the forests, or maybe you're passionate about forest health and restoration, or maybe you grow chestnut trees on your land and want more.
The USDA looks for unique and custom comments. You don't have to be a scientist to support the restoration of the American chestnut! You can be anyone, all you need is a few sentences of why you support this effort. Check out these helpful tips and sample comments that we've compiled if you're still unsure of what to say. Be sure to submit your comment by midnight on Thursday, January 26.
Visit acf.org/resources-deregulation-darling58/ to learn more and to submit your comment.
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