One hundred years ago, this past September, the United States Department of Agriculture published Circular 370 in which two of the department pathologists presented a doomsday outlook for the American chestnut tree. They wrote, “Practically all of the chestnut timber of Eastern Sections of the United States is now affected with a deadly blight brought to this country from Asia.” By 1950, the American chestnut tree was all but extinct.
A parasitic fungus which causes the blight of the tree was brought to this country on nursery trees from Asia. The blight was first recognized in New York City in 1904. The chestnut was the largest, tallest, and among the fastest growing trees in the Appalachians. Its lumber was rot resistant, light and straight grained. It was valued for sheathing, framing, interior trim and furniture. It was popular material for telephone and telegraph poles and railroad ties. In 1910, West Virginia led the nation in the production of chestnut lumber and yellow poplar.
Using surviving root stock, efforts to restore a blight resistant American chestnut are being made by organizations like The American Chestnut Foundation and the American Chestnut Cooperator Foundation. Among the champions of these efforts was the late Dolly Parton.
