The Return of the American Chestnut

I was checking out the Good News Network this morning and found an amazing article and documentary about the return of the American Chestnut in Maine, thanks to Dr. Bernd Heinrich, author of Ravens in Winter and many other great books. Check this out:

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/once-wiped-out-by-blight-thousands-of-american-chestnut-trees-are-thriving-on-biologists-land-in-maine/

The American Chestnut was decimated by chestnut blight in the early 1900s, which killed million of trees through the eastern United States. But thanks to Dr. Heinrich, they are making a comeback in Maine. This article was very inspirational for me because I just planted and began stratifying several dozen chestnut seeds a few weeks ago. I'm planning on planting, selling and donating lots of chestnut seedlings once they begin germinating. Chestnuts are amazing trees and can live for hundreds of years. And they are delicious roasted!

Anyone out there growing chestnuts? What species do you grow and where do you live?

Oh, that's nice to hear!

We are growing chestnuts. Very early days yet, none of them has fruited, and given our climate (Norwegian coast) we'll probably have to wait for a decade or so for nuts, but they are growing quite well. As for what species we are growing, we've just collected nuts from trees we came across, mostly without known pedigree. Most are probably C. sativa, some I strongly suspect to be crenata x sativa (one lonely small tree with very big nuts in a garden, with plenty of wild-ish sativa trees in the vicinity) and a couple are either pure dentata or dentata x sativa (nuts from a couple American chestnut trees in an arboretum, in an area where there are wild sativas, although not in the immediate vicinity). We're taking a "landrace" approach to chestnuts, plant them all together and let them cross freely, growing out nuts from the trees that do best in our area (if they ever manage to fruit, that is...) Would like some of the other species too, if we can find them, to increase the genetic diversity further.

I just read something interesting here. Apparently, some surviving trees of C. ozarkensis, the Ozark chinkapin, have been found to have even better resistance to chestnut blight than C. mollissima. Now that would be some nice genetics to have in the population! Can probably just forget finding any on this side of the Atlantic, though...

I love Bernd Heinrich!  I've really enjoyed reading his books.  

I planted Chinese chestnut seeds a decade ago that I have been harvesting from for the past few years.  I see a few seedlings popping up here and there from those trees.  Also, last year I bought nuts from a mother tree that is 75% American chestnut and am hoping they end up behaving very much like full American chestnuts as they will need to compete in a forest setting.  Fingers crossed.  I'd love to get my fingers on some resistant 100% American and chinkapin seeds to add to my forest too.  Such a lovely dream to see them return.

i’m part of a nut orchard group. we got chestnut seed from a former president of the northern nut growers association, who was at the time three generations in on a big open-pollinated chestnut breeding project that included all 7 of the world chestnut species. each time he started a new orchard he would take seed from his favorite trees in the previous orchard. he was mainly going for trees that conform to a more chinese/korean tree shape (the easier for dealing with in an orchard setting) but he also selected a number of ‘timber-type’ trees that act much more like an american chestnut. definitely not pure genetics, but totally blight resistant and really nice to see such tall chestnuts doing their thing!

we were expecting some of the first nuts from our chestnuts (and the ones we have at home too) last year, but the brood XIV cicadas really knocked them back pretty hard. soon!

also a fan of bernd’s books!

Thank you for your replies everyone. I'm always interested in hearing about other people who grow chestnuts.

I transplanted two Chinese Chestnuts here about 10 years ago and they flowered for the first time last summer, but no chestnuts formed inside the burrs. I'm hoping for the first crop this year. The trees receive minimal care except for Scotch broom mulch and a bit of organic fertilizer.

The seeds I planted a few weeks ago were from Silverleaf Chestnut, a chestnut that is a predominantly Japanese hybrid variety. I'm trying this variety out because it can produce in the forth year after planting, doesn't get too gigantic and is resistant to blight. If I had the room though, I would like to try some of resistant American Chestnut varieties. They are remarkable trees.

Here's a video called "The Chestnut Grove" from a three part series about chestnuts by Akiva Silver, a fellow permies member, nurseryman, author and chestnut enthusiast:



He's got lots of other  cool videos about growing fruit and nut trees.

over the past 10 years ive planted more than 500 chestnut trees. currently I believe 300-400 of them have survived, I have not counted them. last fall was the first year they have produced chestnuts. I collected a total of 15lbs of beautiful organic pest free chestnuts. I let the deer have their way with them for about the first week of harvest season then began gathering every nut in the orchard. I currently have Chinese and Dustan varieties. both blight resistant. about a week ago I took delivery of 25 more Dustan seedlings from the State of Tennessee Department of forestry and donated a half dozen to the rural medical clinic located on Chestnut Hill, here in East Tennessee. Now that I know I can successfully grow chestnuts I would be more than happy to accept donations of New blight resistant American Chestnut trees.

M.K. Dorje Sr. wrote:I was checking out the Good News Network this morning and found an amazing article and documentary about the return of the American Chestnut in Maine, thanks to Dr. Bernd Heinrich, author of Ravens in Winter and many other great books. Check this out:

https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/once-wiped-out-by-blight-thousands-of-american-chestnut-trees-are-thriving-on-biologists-land-in-maine/

The American Chestnut was decimated by chestnut blight in the early 1900s, which killed million of trees through the eastern United States. But thanks to Dr. Heinrich, they are making a comeback in Maine. This article was very inspirational for me because I just planted and began stratifying several dozen chestnut seeds a few weeks ago. I'm planning on planting, selling and donating lots of chestnut seedlings once they begin germinating. Chestnuts are amazing trees and can live for hundreds of years. And they are delicious roasted!

Anyone out there growing chestnuts? What species do you grow and where do you live?

I've recently relocated to western West Virginia on acreage and would like to get a few chestnut trees going before I get too old to dig the holes! (Already over 60!) If they aren't too costly, I'd be interested in obtaining a few of whatever you have available.
I've just read that chestnuts require a different variety for pollination, like many fruiting trees. So that clones of the same can't pollinate each other.  And the nursery I'm looking at ordering saplings from doesn't offer that level of information,  only that they need pollinator partners.
But they also are only offering Chinese chestnut at the affordable price point.

To clarify, it might be a year or two before I'm selling or donating any chestnut trees. (They haven't even germinated yet!)  Plus, I don't do mail order. At least, not yet.  But if you're in western Oregon next spring, send me a mooseage... :)

Here are the trees I have available right now for pickup or delivery in western Oregon:

https://permies.com/t/273705/Fruit-Trees-Plants-pickup-Oregon

all of my trees have come from state department of forestry seedling programs.
if anyone is near what was previously the West Virginia state tree nursery, clements tree nursery in Mason county west Virginia, prior home to Samuel clements (mark Twain's) grandparents
there should be a large stand of American chestnut trees there and maybe even Chinese chestnut trees that the state used to offer for sale.
im still curious what ever became of the place since the West Virginia legislature shut it down.

bruce Fine wrote:all of my trees have come from state department of forestry seedling programs.
if anyone is near what was previously the West Virginia state tree nursery, clements tree nursery in Mason county west Virginia, prior home to Samuel clements (mark Twain's) grandparents
there should be a large stand of American chestnut trees there and maybe even Chinese chestnut trees that the state used to offer for sale.
im still curious what ever became of the place since the West Virginia legislature shut it down.

Well, Google maps says it's permanently closed. I'm now only an hour's drive away and may make it a day trip to see if I can access fallen nuts! I'll report if/when there is anything to report!

It looks like it's still owned by the WVDNR so you can make a good case for exploring public land!

Mr. Weeks,
I'm looking forward to what you might find there. From what I understand the grove of American chestnut trees there is legendary  and I'm just guessing here but they are probably naturally blight resistant or they could not have survived to grow to the heights I have seen pictures of.
This time of year probably most all the nuts have been eaten by wildlife but any that fell and naturally sprouted should have leaves popping out in the next few weeks. Ive found with black walnuts anyways that squirrels bury seed, forget about them and before you know it there are new trees where you least expect them

Hi
I just came across an urgent call for help to stop the bulldozing of the 200 blight-surviving wild American Chestnut trees at the former Clements State Tree Nursery.
Apparently the area is about to be a data centre..... by bulldozing the whole area from 1st November

I hope it is okay to post this here - it could be well worthwhile to stop the loss of these rare and precious survivors.  I noted the comment  a couple of months ago. I do not know how big the tree area is - but it could potentially be  possible to save the trees and still have the *** data centre...
Charmian

This rare grove of American chestnut trees located at the former Clements State Tree Nursery in Mason County, West Virginia, is scheduled to be bulldozed. The land, once owned by Mark Twain's grandparents, is being redeveloped into the Monarch Compute Campus by the tech company Nscale, for an Anthropic data center.
 
Planted in the 1970s from pre-blight wild survivors, this chestnut orchard is a vital "genetics library" and the primary seed source used to restore the species across West Virginia. We have until November 1, 2026 to pressure these companies to stop this horrific Anthropic data center project
 
Please take action!
Please take 5 minutes right now to call and email the key decision-makers. Demand that they halt the clearing of the grove and ensure the protection of these trees.
 
1. Flood the Tech Companies with calls and emails!
Anthropic and Nscale must not destroy the future of wild American chestnut trees!
 
Anthropic Corporate Headquarters: Call 415-571-3346 or 415-505-5563
Anthropic Emails: feedback@anthropic.com, support@anthropic.com
Nscale (Data Center Developer): Submit a complaint through the Nscale Contact Portal.
 
2. Pressure West Virginia State Officials
The state must protect its environmental legacy and hold incoming tech developers accountable.
WV Governor’s Office: Call 304-558-2000 or 888-438-2731
WV Division of Forestry HQ: Call 304-558-2788
 
3. The American Chestnut Foundation: Call [828-281-0047]828-281-0047 to tell them to take action to stop this desecration of such a critical American chestnut grove.
 
SAMPLE EMAIL / PHONE SCRIPT
Feel free to copy, paste, and modify the message below when calling or emailing:
 
"I am contacting you to demand the immediate protection of the historic American chestnut grove at the former Clements State Tree Nursery in Mason County, WV. This grove represents decades of vital genetic research and ecological hope for an endangered American icon.
 
Anthropic, Nscale and the State of West Virginia MUST IMMEDIATELY HALT the construction of the Anthropic Data Center or any other plans that threaten these trees and collaborate with conservationists to safeguard this irreplaceable genetic library before it is too late."
 
Please forward this email to your networks, share it on social media, and make your voice heard before November 2026. We cannot let corporate expansion erase Appalachian history.
 

Thank you so much for posting this!! I really appreciate all the effort you're putting in to save the chestnut grove. I called all four contact numbers. I left a message for the first three and then I talked to Angus (sp.?) at the Chestnut Foundation. He said they were also against the construction of the AI data center and he would be contacting other members of the foundation to see if they find a way to save the trees.

Recent polls show that an overwhelming majority of Americans oppose the construction of more AI data surveillance centers. It's something that both conservatives and progressives can agree on. I hope that if enough people unite against this, we can save the trees. Keep up the good work!

Please note that I always avoid discussing politics at permies completely, but this one time, I hope we can all agree that the chestnut grove is something worth protecting.