Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation Meeting - 2017

This year's annual meeting will take place at Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest on August 12, 2017, between the hours of 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM. We will meet at the Education Building in the classroom. Come and join us for a day of updates and presentations on what has been going on in our Kentucky Chapter with the American chestnut tree and the efforts to reestablish this native tree back into our landscape.


If you would like to attend this free event, please RSVP to:

Rick Caldwell

President, Kentucky Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation

P.O. Box 130

Clermont, KY 40110

Office: 502-955-8512 ext. 232

Cell: 502-807-2257

rcaldwell@bernheim.org

  

Everything Loves Chestnut Trees!

Chestnut trees have been referred to a "deer candy," as the foliage is highly favored by deer.  And of course, "everything" eats the nuts from the chestnut tree - deer, bears, raccoons, turkey, bluejays, etc.  the Kentucky Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation has even had one of their backcross breeding orchards literally destroyed by elk in the eastern part of the state.


I recently observed a leafcutter bee utilizing American chestnut leaves for nesting materials.  The bees are solitary in nature (no hives like a honey bee) and will cut small portions of suitable leaves to be carried back to the nesting cavity - usually a hollow plant stem or abandoned exit hole from a boring insect in a tree - and placed just so to construct chambers.  Within these chambers, the bee collects and deposits a ball of pollen.  Upon this pollen, an egg is laid and then the chamber is sealed up with another leaf cutting.  Onto building the next one!

A leafcutter bee can be seen towards the left carrying a newly cut piece

of American chestnut leaf.



Are chestnut trees extinct?

Are chestnut trees extinct?

Well, the quick answer to this question is no, they are not.  In fact, pure American chestnut trees can still be found out in the woods of Kentucky!  However, they are often only small in size and may be too young or small to produce nuts.  These "wild" trees tend to be sprouts from existing root systems of chestnut trees that have been killed by the blight.

In an ongoing cycle, the living root systems will send up a sprout which may remain small and suppressed in the shade of the other trees for many years.  Upon a disturbance, such as a fire, windstorm or even a human cause disturbance such as a timber sale, the small tree will take off in growth once it has more light getting to it!  Sometimes these will get large enough to flower and produce nuts, but at other times they may succumb to blight before they even begin to flower.

There are some people making the effort to grow pure American chestnut trees, mostly just for their own pleasure.  One person doing this in Bullitt County, KY, is Kerrin Hester.  Mr. Hester has grown a variety of pure American trees from nuts he has obtained from various locations, including Kentucky, Virginia and Maine.

Kerrin has been growing this small orchard for the past four years.  Many of the trees are showing signs of producing male flowers and there are high hopes that some female flowers will be produced this year.  Kerrin is looking forward to getting his first nuts from the orchard!

Some of the trees are well over 20' tall!  As you can see to the left, Mr. Hester is around 6' tall, but he is dwarfed by the beautiful American chestnut trees around him.

If you are interested in finding out more about American chestnut trees and efforts to restore them to our Eastern forests, visit The American Chestnut Foundation's website at TACF and consider joining in the efforts!

Like most things in life, Mr. Hester has encountered a few challenges with his orchard.  Deer enjoy nibbling on the lower branches of the trees.  Now that the terminal buds are above deer browse height, that isn't a real concern.

Another vector recently encountered within the orchard is the introduced Ambrosia beetle.

Several trees showed signs of beetle infestations this spring.  Those trees have since died.

An Ambrosia beetle exit hole near the top of the photo, along with frass "tubes" coming out several other holes. 




And, of course, several trees have shown signs of blight, but so far have not died from this.


So, now you know that the American chestnut tree is not extinct and can still be found throughout much of its historic range, as well as planted and grown.  However, the USDA classifies American chestnut as "functionally extinct."  This is due to the lack of mature trees producing viable nuts.


Efforts by The American Chestnut Foundation, The American Chestnut Cooperators' Foundation and other organizations will hopefully succeed in making this tree no longer "functionally extinct" in the woodlands of the eastern US.

Chestnut Activities at Eastern Kentucky University

There are some wonderful chestnut related events coming up at Eastern Kentucky University, including the planting of nuts at their chestnut orchard.  Details and contact information can be found below.

Arbor Days at Elmwood and Taylor Fork Ecological Area

When: Thursday, 20 April 2017

Where: Elmwood / Emma Watts Estate

Description: The days will consist of activities from 10:00-2:00 pm (4-20) and 10:00-4:00pm (4-21). The first day is a ceremonial planting and guest speaker after 1:00. It’s an informal, casual event that encourages participation and lunch on the grounds. Light snacks provided. A zero-waste event, please bring a water bottle to refill.

In case of rain- Keene Johnson Walnut Hall for tree education booths and a venue for the guest speaker, Dr. William H. Martin

The second day is our work day. Consisting of multiple projects, The American chestnut is our featured tree for both events.

 

Arbor Day at Elmwood

April 20, 1017

 

EVENT ITINERARY

Grounds/Estate Open House – 10:00 am to 2:00 pm

Elmwood Event activities and workshops 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM (breaks for lunch and speech)

 

10:00 am to 1:00 pm – Exhibit tables American Chestnut Foundation, Office of Sustainability, UK Urban Forestry Initiative

10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Tree climbing with Brian Clark, EKU Parks and Recreation

10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Tree Health Care Workshop with Nic Williamson, UK Urban Forestry Initiate

10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Tree Geocaching – EKU The Wildlife Society

10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Winter Creeper eradication demonstration plot (EKU Grounds)

10:00 am to 1:00 pm - Tree Identification Tours – EKU The Wildlife Society

12:00 pm to 12:45 pm - Zero Waste Lunch- The Office of Sustainability

1:00 – 2:00 PM

1:00 pm to 1:15 pm Ceremonial tree planting

1:20 pm to 1:25 pm President Benson’s introduction of Dr. William H. (Bill) Martin

1:25 pm to 1:55 pm Dr. William H. Martin, Retired Commissioner, Kentucky Department Natural Resources and Retired Director, Natural Areas, Eastern Kentucky University and, Appalachian Old-Growth Forest Expert

Open for questions 1:55 pm to 2:00 pm

Arbor Day at Taylor Fork Ecological Area

__________________________________________________________________________________________

Tree Campus USA Planting Service Day (Ft. American chestnut)

When: Friday, 21 April 2017

Where: Taylor Fork Ecological Area and Chestnut orchard

Description: (1) Orchard: American chestnut direct seed planting. (2) EKU Nursery and Taylor Fork: Native tree planting. honeysuckle removal, Bring your lunch. Wear long pants and closed-toed shoes for your protection. Rain or shine event (unless there is lightning), please dress for the weather. TFEA -(tree planting, honeysuckle removal, ash tree treatments)

 

EVENT ITINERARY

10:00 am to 2:00 pm American Chestnut Seed and Research Orchard: Direct Seed Planting

12:00 am to 4:00 pm Taylor Fork Ecological Area: Tree Plantings, Treatments, and Honeysuckle Removal

Events Contact: Randy Wilson 859-358-5074

You will be able to find the Louisville Branch of KY-TACF at Gardenaganza on April 30 at the Louisville Nature Center.  On this same day, we will be participating with a display table at the Louisville Zoo's Earth Day Celebration.  Come on out and say hi to the volunteers who will be answering chestnut questions at both events!

Hello spring time!

Chestnut Harvest Time

A Kentucky American chestnut bur reveals seven viable nuts!

It is a sure sign of fall when the chestnut burs begin to open up, revealing their tasty nuts inside.  Although many burs only reveal 1 to 3 viable nuts, sometimes more, the above pictured bur with seven nuts was quite a surprise to see!  This is an indication of good pollination of the female flower that formed this bur.  Unfortunately, when poor pollination occurs or a single tree doesn't have an unrelated tree nearby to provide pollen, a bur can form with no viable nuts inside.  It is easy to tell these because the "nut" will just be a thin, somewhat shrivelled, shell that does not contain an actual nut inside.

Now is a good time to get out into the woods to find chestnut trees by locating burs on the ground.  If you find a tree that is producing burs, PLEASE see if you can find viable nuts inside the burs!  If you do, KY-TACF would be very interested in obtaining some of these nuts to add to their Germplasm Conservation Orchards of pure American chestnut trees!  If you locate such a nut producing tree in the woods of Kentucky, please contact KY-TACF President, Rick Caldwell, by emailing him at rcaldwell@bernheim.org to let him know.  Be sure to document the location of the tree!

Enjoy the cooler weather and the soon to be changing leaves!

Upcoming Chestnut Opportunities

Fall is coming, so there are many "chestnutting" opportunities to plan for.  Annual meetings and conferences, nut harvesting, fall plantings, etc.

The KY-TACF Annual Meeting will take place on September 24, 2016 at Bernheim Forest near Clermont, KY.  The meeting should begin at 9:30 AM.  More info to come.

The National TACF Conference will be in Louisville in November!  More details to come or check the TACF website for info.  www.acf.org

Locally - we will be harvesting nuts at Meades Landing Orchard this fall.  These nuts will be planted into the new seed orchard at Eastern Kentucky University next spring.  We also need to tend our local display plantings.  A request for participants will be sent out once the weather moderates a bit.

Late fall/early winter - hopefully, we will have the opportunity to search out pure American root sprouts at Ft. Knox again this year.  Those found that can be dug will be transferred to the Germplasm Conservation Orchard at Green River Lake.  More info to come.

Make your plans now to participate within the Louisville area in these many upcoming opportunities.  Together, we can save this Eastern giant!

Pollinations and Inoculations - Come Help!

Come One, Come All!

Volunteer to help with Hand Pollinations and with controlled inoculations at our Meadowview Research Farms and Throughout the Southern Region!!

 

Dear Members and Volunteers,

 

We are excited to start our pollination/inoculation season with fun and satisfying fieldwork at Meadowview and throughout the southern region.

 

There’s plenty of work going on from early June through early July, so pick some dates that work best for you. Just let me know if you’re looking for something local or if you want to make the trek to Meadowview.

 

Note that although we anticipate various projects going on all month and throughout the region, the exact where and when the work takes place can be dependent on Mother Nature, so try to be flexible.

 

Lodging at Meadowview is provided at Emory and Henry College (just remember to bring your own linens).

 

 

WHAT, WHERE AND WHEN:

 

1^st and 2^nd weeks of June – We are looking for a lot of help with inoculations at Meadowview this year (we have 7000 trees to screen in the Meadowview progeny tests). Whenever at Meadowview, we spend the day in the field having fun and then head out for a well-earned meal (and maybe a beer!).

 

1st week of June through early July – we will collect pollen and conduct controlled pollinations at Meadowview and throughout the region. Again, if you join us at Meadowview, you’re in for a rewarding experience.

 

Let me know if you have any availability during these timeframes.

 

 

Email Tom for more details, directions, etc.  tom.saielli@acf.org

 -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blogger note - "Meadowview" is The American Chestnut Foundations's farm in Meadowview, VA.