Hunting for American Chestnut

Have you ever seen and American chestnut? This video will walk you through the process of hunting for and reporting American chestnut trees you find in the wild using the TreeSnap app.
Learn more at:
-TreeSnap: treesnap.org/
-KY Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation: acf.org/ky/

[@accousticdecay]

Gentlemen, this excellent video is worthy of promulgation to the general public via all available means. I had found American Chestnuts in past decades, before RA curtailed any hiking in the woods, and before I realized that I should report such findings. I'd like to encourage young hikers to use the app and join the search.

[@Camo-Dan]

Im in! Ill look into getting the app. When im hiking or anything im learning how to look for these trees and i would be able to use the app.

[@whitefreeman5798]

the tree snap program should be introduced to all school children.. to encourage them to care about the forest and get them excited about helping the future and living a healthier life by getting out of the house

[@nathanlaing8441]

Here in the northeast, wild American chestnut is typically found in mixed, acidic, well drained forested slopes and benches/ridge tops. Overhead disturbance either natural or artificial within past 100 years will also promote growth. Common co-associates but not absolute indicators are Oaks (Red, white Chestnut oak), Witchhazel shrubs , and understory of blueberry and other Ericaceae members like Teaberry and wintergreen. Hemlock forests too but not always dominant dominant. Interesting some of the largest wild (12” DBH) chestnut I’ve come across happen to be near lakeshore /river shores.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

Fellow Chestnut-lover: Thanks for that.

[@Camo-Dan]

Interesting information, i too am in the northeast. (Vermont/mass/ny. I have seen other videos on youtube where large trees have been found by water/lake. I wonder why that is.

[@nathanlaing8441]

I reckon it could be differences in soil microbes. Especially interesting hypothesis to ponder given the use of moist soils as part of orchard “mud packing” technique

[@kathymostoller2619]

Live in Pa. Near Mt. Davis , highest point in Pa. There's American Chestnut trees growing on the mountain. Young ones about good 15' high.

[@shanestanton5481]

My dad is on Ridge Ridge, across the MD line. There are a few, but they grow for about ten years, and die.

[@chadouellette790]

I've seen them in Maine! One in Harpswell is over a hundred years old. Huge gnarly tree! On an old farm

[@jamesderoc6717]

if true its a major find

[@brett76544]

there was one chestnut that I could do 11 arm spans around back when I was 15. It was still alive 5 years ago, along with some youngers ones on that ridge. That big one and many of the smaller ones had a 10 acre well pad placed there.

[@peterkilbridge6523]

So good to hear that. 🙏

[@paulbeck6410]

I know where there is several American Chestnut trees. Also my brother and my dad started several on the farm that are thriving and producing nuts. This is in Northwestern Illinois.

[@kyforesthealth]

Let the American Chestnut Foundation know? tacf.org. Northwestern Illinois is outside of the natural range of American chestnut but great that you are having success growing them there!

[@danhealyeverythingoutdoors7105]

Excellent video !

[@paolazannini458]

Good job!

[@nealramsey4439]

I will definitely have the app on my phone when I go out looking for Morels this spring. I'm pretty sure that I've seen some in the past. Morels and Chestnut may not grow in the same places but I will cover some mountain ridges. At this point I would be more interested in finding Chestnut trees than Morels.

[@andyfeimsternfei8408]

Years ago, Grandmother Mountain in NC was covered in chestnuts. I haven't been there in decades.

[@Man-cv5ws]

I hope future generations will see a comeback.

[@hatuxka]

On the Cornell campus grounds that are wooded near Beebe Lake, coupla sprouts along a trail there. Near Geneva NY in a patch of woods west of the town.

[@blakespower]

I understand that during the beginnings of the blight they would cut down many healthy chestnut trees to try to stop the spread of the blight, maybe some of those trees were naturally immune if you can find them and clear out space for sunlight to let them grow again

[@irishfruitandberries9059]

Yep, that's the sentiment amongst a lot of experts now.

[@kyforesthealth]

The American Chestnut Foundation and partners are doing a lot of research to try to identify resistance in our native American chestnut (as well as other approaches). While they have done some great work, there seems to be less resistance out there than we would hope for (meaning that supplementing with other approaches is especially important). You can read more at their site here: acf.org/science-strategies/3bur/

[@brett76544]

PA was where they tried to make a fire break for the tree. It lasted about 2 years.

[@nolanholmberg311]

@@kyforesthealthhave you all been made aware of the genetically modified American chestnut named “prop 58” it’s completely stable and has resistance to blight in all tests. It seems like we’ll be seeing the return of these great trees en masse if the USDA will stop being in constant state bureaucratic hell lmfao

[@jamesderoc6717]

found one today in MA

[@Camo-Dan]

What town? I am from mass! I hope to start looking when im out hunting/hiking. How big was it? So cool.

[@jamesderoc6717]

@@Camo-Dan it was in upton, i found the nut didn't realize it was a AC till i got home. still need to go back and locate the tree they came from.

[@smileyvision2626]

I have a 160 ft American Chestnut on my property that's 14 in diameter with no blight in lakemont GA. It was 30 ft from the power lines and the power company took out half the canopy. I wasn't there at the time but it infuriated me. I just downloaded the Treesnap and when I get home I'll do some pics. Please point me towards some other resources. I also have black walnuts and berry trees. I love my trees and I want to protect them! thank you

[@thomasjcorson4758]

Is there another American Chestnut nearby I hope so!

[@kyforesthealth]

Wow! Report it in the app but also reach out to your local TACF chapter acf.org/ga/

[@smileyvision2626]

@@thomasjcorson4758 I haven't done much exploring in the near woods but there are some spouts around it.

[@smileyvision2626]

@@kyforesthealth Thank You

[@otracuentaperra4290]

What a great thing to hear. I hope there are saplings around . We have and in Tennessee and it is definitely ready to get in the program to help the species.

[@freetolook3727]

I remember that the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation roped off the area around a sapling in Gilboa, NY back in the late 1970's.

[@CRAFTSMANFISHING]

In my area in Maryland is a 14 feet tree that has been fighting the blight for 5 years. And today I found some saplings with nuts getting ready for fall. I will love to show you.

[@kyforesthealth]

That's exciting! You should reach out to the Maryland chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation if you are interested? acf.org/md/about-us/

[@veritas6466]

Thank you for the Chestnut education. The same cliff side edges and landings enjoyed by the tree are warming areas for the reptiles!

[@dennistozier5530]

Hey great information do you know if their are american chestnut trees in maine I have found horse chestnut tree .

[@accousticdecay]

Vigorous mud-packing may help the tree survive a few more years so that a few crops of intentionally pollinated nuts can be garnered. Just a thought from an old coot.

[@kyforesthealth]

Yes, I think there are plans to try something like that with this tree!

[@jackjones9460]

If there are small trees there must be larger ones somewhere.

[@freetolook3727]

I have a Horse Chestnut tree in my yard and the seedlings, for some reason, only grow about a foot then die out.

[@SideWalkAstronomyNetherlands]

Just plant European ones, got one in my backyard, it's doing just fine here in the Netherlands :)

[@woodboogerfarm]

I would love to start some American chestnut trees here on my farm...how can I get some seeds to start?

[@kyforesthealth]

Currently, the only American chestnuts that are available are susceptible to the blight and will eventually be killed by it. You may be able to find some hybrid American x Chinese chestnuts with more resistance to the blight (and a form more like Chinese chestnut). I'd recommend reaching out to your local TACF chapter if you are interested in planting trees on your farm

[@kbkesq]

Very cool video! They are trying to engineer blight resistant American chestnut trees but they could just use these to propagate the species again.

[@kindredspiritzz66]

How do they propagate? I don't think burying the nuts will grow a tree from a previous video I watched

[@stefkadank-derpjr1453]

The problem with using the American chestnut tree to "make more" is that they have found that a chestnut tree grown from the propagation of chestnut trees found in the wild, will grow up to just before it starts to reproduce itself (around age 5-6 years) and it will be struck down by the blight before the tree has a chance to ever make a crop of nuts.

[@wingking077]

The chestnut the young lady was standing in at beginning and end, what variety is it? European sweet, dunstan, Chinese?

[@kyforesthealth]

It's either an American or a hybrid American x Chinese. However, mostly American and highly susceptible to the blight. It's growing in an open field setting so grows vigorously but once shoots get to about 1 inch in diameter they die...

[@thomasjcorson4758]

If American Chestnuts are extremely endangered are they protected if not they should be!

[@YouTuber-ep5xx]

Is that Bigleaf Magnolia right under the chestnut at 20:00 in?

[@kyforesthealth]

It looks more like an umbrella magnolia to me but it certainly could be! They both grow in this area.

[@fjwrt]

After all this time is there still no chemical to be found to help treat the blight?

[@kyforesthealth]

Not that can control this widespread in a forest setting :( The American Chestnut Foundation and partners are doing a lot of research, you can read more at their site here: acf.org/science-strategies/3bur/

[@kindredspiritzz66]

Ok what i don't get is where is the blight now? How is it still killing trees? They have to travel miles between trees to hand polloinate them cause its to far for insects or wind to do it naturally. So hows the blight still finding these trees? I get the initial wave of blight just went tree to tree cause there were so many so close to one another. Small grove of them in Wisconsin that finally got it in the 90s i believe, states away from the next closest chestnut trees. Hows that blight move if its not insects or wind?

[@kyforesthealth]

Good question! Unfortunately, while this fungus only kills American chestnut, it can infect and live in a broad range of other tree species without causing this same level of damage. Oaks, hickories, even sumac have all been found to be infected. So while there are no large chestnut to spread it, it will persist in the environment in these other hosts and is not going anywhere long-term. You can read more here: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chestnut_blight. In addition, there's a lot more small chestnut trees out and about than most people realize. While these never become large trees due to the blight killing them when they grow large enough, check out the TreeSnap app data and you can see lot of small bushy chestnuts: treesnap.org

[@conishka3749]

Are they working on a cure it makes me so sad to see and know how many trees die from the blight

[@jayrudo6280]

Chinese Chestnuts are immune to the blight. There is a group, I forget the name, that is cross pollinating it. They think in 10 years they will have an American Chestnut immune to blight.

[@kyforesthealth]

KY Forest Health 1 second ago The American Chestnut Foundation and partners are doing a lot of research to try bring back our native American chestnut. You can read more at their site here: acf.org/science-strategies/3bur/

[@jackjones9460]

Is there any treatment that kills the fungus?

[@kyforesthealth]

There are some options for protecting individual trees but they must be repeated are are not effective long-term. However, if you have a tree in your yard that you want to protect you can look into both mud packing/ soil compress method and fungicide injections. Not an option to protect forest trees but certainly worth exploring in some contexts and here is a factsheet with more information: ecosystems.psu.edu/research/chestnut/breeding/blight/control-blight

[@jackjones9460]

@@kyforesthealth Thank you! I’m buying chestnut trees and seeds to sprout to plant a bunch of trees. Some are Chinese, some are Dunstun hybrid & some I’m told were sprouted from Dunstun hybrids. I’m 58 and have never seen a chestnut growing. I ate some roast chestnuts in Turkey though. When I heard about the blight I decided I’m going to grow some. I likely will never see them fully grown but I’ve started with ten seedlings now. My children and other people will enjoy them again, God willing.

[@CalvinsCorner72]

Why can't you graft it with a Chinese tree to save it?

[@Noone-rt6pw]

Reporting the trees, it might be good to keep them secret. But, I'd like to have ripe nuts or young saplings to plant here if they live, maybe they can establish themselves and adapt.

[@mr.redneck2715]

Your not a biologist that’s for sure! Unless they have grizzly bears where you are.

[@lindayoung2959]

Somebody cut all the black walnut trees on my property before I bought it.