Summer 2024 9 Cassie Stark (Regional Science Coordinator at the American Chestnut Foundation) recording pollination data at Lesesne State Forest (2024). Volunteer pointing to an American chestnut grafted in 1980 from a Large Surviving American tree (Thompson tree in Appomattox County) in the American Orchard at Lesesne State Forest (1999). to add new generations as needed. If you have purchased hybrid chestnut seedlings from the DOF nursery they have likely come out of this orchard from open pollination. Lesesne State Forest has become one of the most instrumental sites for the chestnut breeding program in Virginia. Some of our best breeding results have come out of the hybrids planted there, and we continue to add new generations in our LSA Orchard and our Backcross Orchard. With the fine loamy soils and the gentle sloping topography, this forest makes for fantastic chestnut conditions, which lends itself to orchard production and disease resistance. Lesesne is not DOFs only state forest with chestnut orchards. In 2002, a second state forest was donated to the Commonwealth of Virginia by Judge Jack Matthews and his wife Mary Matthews “to provide for the scientific, educational, and research needs for Southwest Virginia’s children and the public, and to continue the work to enhance and bring back indigenous species such as the American chestnut.” Located just west of Galax in Grayson County, Matthews State Forest covers approximately 566 acres. There are two chestnut orchards on this state forest, both of which were planted with advanced backcross hybrids. The larger orchard, created in 2008, is primarily used by The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF). The second orchard was planted in 2010 by DOF with trees from the agency’s Research and Breeding program. Both orchards used a method of inoculating individual trees with the blight to rank resistance and then culling the trees that demonstrated poor resistance. These orchards are in the process of being genotyped to provide DOF with even more data on resistance and American ancestry to further our breeding program. Over decades of meticulous research, investment, and through the tireless efforts of many research partners, interested parties, and collaborators, the Commonwealth has made great progress in the restoration of the American chestnut. As you might have suspected the American chestnut is near and dear to the hearts of many Virginians, including mine. Speaking on behalf of DOF and our partners, we are proud to play such a large role in the breeding program and future restoration of this foundational tree species. Citations Dierauf, T. A., Efforts to Restore the American Chestnut (1974). Charlottesville, VA; Virginia Department of Forestry. Hepting, G. H. (1974). Death of the American chestnut. Jaynes, R. A., & Dierauf, T. A., Proceedings of the American Chestnut Symposium: West Virginia University, Morgantown, West Virginia, January 4-5, 1978 68–73 (1982). Morgantown; West Virginia University Books. Stephenson, S. L., Adams, H. S., & Lipford, M. L. (1991). The Present Distribution of Chestnut in the Upland Forest Communities of Virginia. Bulletin of the Torrey Botanical Club, 118(1), 24–32. https://doi. org/10.2307/2996972. The American Chestnut Foundation. (2024, July 8). https://tacf.org/. Zoe Bergman is Research Program Manager at Virginia Dept. of Forestry and a Forest Ecologist. Her current work focuses on a broad range of applied research topics including improved silviculture for both pine and hardwood forests, diminished species restoration and research, growth and yield of timber species, tree improvement and genetics, and orchard/nursery management. Before this, she was a VDOF Area Forester in the Rappahannock Region where she worked in forest management, fire suppression and prescribed burns, water quality monitoring, and outreach with local natural resource agencies. She earned her M.S. from the University of Virginia in Environmental Sciences and an undergraduate degree in biology from James Madison University.
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