More than a century ago, nearly four billion American chestnut trees were growing in the eastern U.S. They were among the largest, tallest, and fastest-growing trees. The wood was rot-resistant, straight-grained, and suitable for furniture, fencing, and building. The nuts fed billions of wildlife, people, and their livestock. It was almost a perfect tree, that is until a blight fungus killed it more than a century ago. The chestnut blight has been called the greatest ecological disaster to strike the world’s forests in all of history.
The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), with the national office based in Asheville, is committed to restoring the American chestnut tree to our eastern woodlands to benefit our environment, our wildlife, and our society. Visit https://acf.org/ for more information on how you can help.
