Researchers say they are making some progress in the effort to restore the American Chestnut tree. The tree was devastated at the turn of the last century by a fungus accidentally introduced in this country by plant importers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton has more:
Transcript
Researchers say they are making some progress in the effort to restore the American Chestnut tree. The tree was devastated at the turn of the last century by a fungus accidentally introduced in this country by plant importers. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Tracy Samilton has more:
Michigan State University plant pathologist Dennis Fulbright says the American chestnut was extremely valuable for many reasons. It was tall and straight, making it ideal for ship masts and utility poles. It was unusually decay resistant and could be used in situations where wood comes into contact with soil. And it produced a great food for humans and wildlife alike. That is, until the fungus arrived in America.
“Chestnut blight was first found in the city of New York in 1904, and from that point it took about 50 years to destroy 4 billion trees.”
Researchers are conducting two separate experiments to see if they can help the tree resist the blight. In Pennsylvania, they’re crossbreeding the American chestnut with the naturally resistant Chinese chestnut. And in Michigan, they’re planting chestnuts from the few remaining trees that survived the blight, to see if their resistance can be passed on to future generations of trees. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Tracy Samilton.