Virginia Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation Inc

The American chestnut was once one of the most important trees in our eastern hardwood forests. It ranged from Maine to Georgia, and west to the prairies of Indiana and Illinois. It grew mixed with other species, often making up 25 percent of the hardwood forest. In the virgin forests of the Appalachian Mountains, the ridges were often pure chestnut. Mature trees could be 600 years old and average 4 to 5 feet in diameter and 80 to 100 feet tall. Specimens as large as 8 to10 feet in diameter were recorded. 

Then the chestnut blight struck. First discovered in 1904 in New York City, the lethal fungus–an Asian organism to which our native chestnuts had very little resistance–spread quickly. By 1950, except for the shrub-like sprouts the species continually produces (and which also usually become infected), the American chestnut had virtually disappeared from eastern forests. In Virginia, trees that have survived the blight are few and far between. While those that have survived are truly a beautiful sight to behold, they are disappearing quickly 

Our mission is to restore the chestnut to Virginia forests. We bring together volunteer citizen scientists to breed blight resistance trees, plant orchards to produce seed, and plant chestnuts on restoration projects in Virginia forests.