Our Mission
The mission of this chapter shall be to assist in the work of The American Chestnut Foundation in bringing about a revival and a renewal of the American chestnut tree as a prominent part of the forests of the United States of America by strengthening the organization’s financial and membership base, education, public awareness, and research activities.
Once there were over four billion American chestnut trees in the United States. One out of every four trees in the Appalachian forests was a chestnut! From Maine to Mississippi, American chestnut trees thrived and matured as the dominant species, towering over their neighbors the oaks, hickories, and tulip poplars. And they were huge. One tree near Waynesville, NC, was over 17 feet in diameter — 53 feet in circumference!
Foresters called the American Chestnut “the most useful tree in the woods”,because it provided abundant food for wild animals and livestock, a cash crop for mountain farmers, a light, yellow-colored wood for furniture, and rot-resistant lumber for fences, utility poles, and siding.
In 1904 the chestnut blight disease, caused by an Asian fungus Cryphonectria parasitica, was discovered in the Bronx Zoo of New York City. The blight spread quickly by air and on the bodies of insects, birds, and animals.
By the 1930´s, almost all the mature chestnut trees in the Carolinas were dying back to their roots. Thanks to soil organisms, however, many of the roots remain alive, sending up small sprouts that constantly die back from the blight even today.
Now, with an approach called backcross breeding, the American Chestnut Foundation and its Carolinas Chapter are working to revive this great King of the Forest. Within a decade, we expect to have blight-resistant trees ready for testing in North and South Carolina. It is our hope and expectation that the American chestnut will resume its place as a significant species in our forests. The members of the Carolinas Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation are heavily involved in reaching this goal: finding surviving trees, pollinating them, harvesting seed, and planting orchards for eventual reforestation. We sincerely appreciate the dedication, hard work, and enthusiasm of our members and ask you to join us in our efforts to save this great tree.
Carolinas Chapter Board of Directors
Doug Gillis, Charlotte, NC, President
Allan Snow, Waxhaw, NC, Secretary
Paul Sisco, Asheville, NC, Treasurer
Steve Barilovits, III, Charlotte, NC
John Bonitz, Pittsboro, NC
Joe James, Seneca, SC
Brian Joyce, Arden, NC
Bonnie Millar, Asheville, NC
Scott Pryor, Edneyville, NC
Russell Regnery, Highlands, NC
Judy Sutton, Waynesville, NC
Jon Taylor, Asheville, NC
The Carolinas Chapter Menu
National Facebook
An example of how the volunteer chapters work and collaborate to use their orchards and resources toward the mission of creating blight resistant chestnuts.
In 2005, we harvested our first potentially blight-resistant chestnuts. We continue this rigorous testing and trials in the forest, orchard, and research labs. The return of the American chestnut to its former native range in the Appalachian hardwood forest ecosystem is a major restoration project that requires a multi-faceted effort involving members and volunteers, scientific research, sustained funding, and most importantly, a sense of the past and a hope for the future.
Let’s get some Chestnut 🌰 trees 🌳 so we can make them come back to American 🇺🇸 soil.
The PA / NJ Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation is holding a Spring Growers Meeting, April 1st at 8:30am-4pm. In person and virtual options available. Tickets sold online, click the event to learn more!
This is a grower-centric meeting focused of chestnuts. Planting, growing and breeding basics.
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The Vermont & New Hampshire chapter of TACF is now on social media. Be sure to like & follow!
Facebook: Vermont & New Hampshire Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation
Instagram: @vtnh_tacf
Happy first day of Spring! 🌱
I have 83 acres in East TN, don't know if I have any Chestnut trees... I'll have to check this spring
I just found out our local school in northeast Bradford Pennsylvania . is planting chestnut trees around the school .the students have planned it all out
Latest News
Boy Scout-Led Restoration Project in Burke County, NC Featured in Morganton News Herald
In partnership with TACF, the Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina (FCNC) joined the American chestnut rescue mission in December 2021 with two volunteer plantings in Burke County, NC. Volunteers succeeded in planting 500 American chestnut seedlings at Oak Hill...