American Chestnut — Questioning Its Former Status As A Dominant Tree

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Studies referenced in the video:

[Forevertrue]

My grandfather born in1906 in Kentucky (east central), told me, his father told him, that in the woods on our farm, if you look in any direction you will see a Chestnuts tree. It made one of the best woods for fire, and great furniture. It fed deer, hogs, squirrels, and many other animals and people. By the time my grandfather was a late teen there were hardly any. Thanks for this Adam.

[gimomable]

I have an American Chestnut that is documented to have survived blight. The former owner of our farm is the one who told us that as a child, someone came and examined it and certified it. I haven't actually seen that cert but it is old, large and is always ina state of dying. It still ages very few Chestnuts but I did manage to get three nuts this year with no worm holes to plant 🙏🏼💚🌳

[mikeaucott]

Adam, this is a well-documented and interesting presentation. The reports you reference clearly support the view that the American chestnut was not as dominant prior to European settlement in most of its range as many have claimed. However, there's an aspect to this story that you did not discuss, and which shouldn't be ignored. That's the impact of the massive logging - much of it clearcutting, that took place in the Northeast in the 1700s and 1800s. The American chestnut is extremely efficient at sprouting from its roots. When a forest that included some chestnut was clear cut, chestnuts would sprout back much more vigorously than competing species. The result would be a forest 50 years later with a significantly higher percentage of chestnut than before the logging. Faison and Foster, in the article that you reference, discuss this aspect. They wrote "..(logging).. actually promoted chestnut to dominance in parts of its range where it hadn’t been dominant before. Chestnut’s remarkable ability to sprout vigorously from cut stumps, including those of large diameter and advanced age, made it better adapted to intensive logging than any other hardwood tree including oaks. As the early Connecticut foresters Hawley and Hawes (1912) wrote, “this sprouting capacity of the species is its strongest characteristic and the one by which with each successive cutting it gains in the struggle for existence with the rival inmates of the woodlot.” Likely due to the impact of intensive logging, the American chestnut probably did become dominant in a larger portion of its range by 1900. This can explain why the perception of chestnut's former dominance is so widespread, and why, for example, the famous forester Joseph S. Illick, writing in his book Pennsylvania Trees (1925 edition), said of the chestnut, "It was formerly the most common tree of Pennsylvania." Mike Aucott

[joevuzekaz]

It’s an honor to have a nice person like you dedicated to propagate information important to people like me.

[YooperInTraining]

I spent many years of my professional life as an interpretive naturalist. I find your interweaving of fun, interesting facts with scientific research masterful. I look forward to your next video.

[dellaangel]

I just found your channel today. As someone who lived in Philly for 40+ years I never ate anything that didn't come from a market. I recently moved a few miles outside the city, have some lawn in the yard but don't care for "weed killers" herbicides. & learning to appreciate the land and God given food &nutrition. Thank you for having such an extensive library. I have a lot of catching up to do, but wanted to let you know how much I am grateful to have found your content.

[patrickdurham]

I have a customer who has a copse of chestnuts that produce heavily every year. She said the whole ridge behind her house was one covered with them but after the blight hit only the dozen or so remained. She gives seed to a chestnut restoration group every year and also to her plumber (me!) to try to breed a more resistant tree and roast a few as well. She's in her 90s but her children keep up the farm and the trees.

[itbevee]

My mother told me an interesting story. My grandfather had an American chestnut tree in his backyard that survived the blight. He would bring chestnuts to work to eat during his lunch. He worked in a factory back then. I forget what kind but mom said his clothes would sparkle in the sun after being washed so... Anyway, a man saw him eating the chestnuts and asked him about them. The man was a part of an effort to conserve the American chestnut and they were not able to find fruiting trees to plant. My grandfather told him he'd bring him a bucket of them. And not only that, but he did that for years. Every year he would bring a bucket of chestnuts to this man. Mom claims that hundreds of American chestnuts that were planted in Pennsylvania are decedents from the one in my grandfather's backyard.

[hiromikami]

You work hard to make all these videos. Thank you for always finding a way to make information easy to digest.

[kevinlewis]

This is a tree that excites me. It’s historical impact, it’s impact as a food for man and beast... I’m hoping for a great recovery.

[Joanzak]

I live in New Hartford, CT, on a small mountain. We do have American Chestnut on our mountain. We got hit with gypsy moths that killed huge amounts of our oak trees three years ago. Giving the Chestnuts the room now to grow bigger and expand. Thanks for the info.

[dianadonovan]

Adam, I love your videos! As an herbalist and elementary teacher, I appreciate your research, humor, and dedication to teaching us about our land and the many sacred life forms that share it. Thank you!

[ClintsHobbiesDIY]

I'm in central Virginia. I'm 68 and when I was about 14 an old man told me before the blight you could look at the mountains and ridges and see the Chestnut trees towering above all others. He was disturbed by the blight and was hoping for a comeback.
They were cut for lumber years after they died because they were very rot resistant.
I remember stepping over many fallen Chestnuts when I was in my 20's and 30's. If they were not laying on the ground, like laying on rocks or other trees, they were good for decades.

[adrianjosephbustle]

Very informative! I have been working with American Chestnut trees in NC for approximately 15 years now and have a couple that are quite large(For their age). One was producing nuts at less than seven years of age. I collect nuts and start them every year in hopes that some will survive the blight.

[slabrankle]

In a previous video I, and others apparently, asked Adam to find a mature American Chestnut and he did just that. Good man.

[aaronsemasko]

I'm not sure if you saw the article "Native American influences on the forest composition of the Allegheny Plateau, northwest Pennsylvania" from 2006 (Black et. al.) where it discusses the change in abundance of chestnut relative to indigenous village distance.

I was doing a forest inventory survey for ANF a few years ago and was shocked by the dominance of AMCH in the understory because most of the nearby forest was beech / maple type - this article explained a lot.

Another interesting topic is the "black forest" of NC PA where all the writings say it was 80% white pine / hemlock. There are a few good articles out there showing how this perception was distorted by the fact most people travelling through the area used the river valleys (because steep hills suck) and commented only on the composition of the.. valleys - and ignored the plateaus that were mostly white oak / beech.

[OakKnobFarm]

chestnut is so gorgeous. I lived down the street from an early 2 story colonial house (late 1700's) in NH with 18" wide chestnut floor boards, and entirely chestnut doors, trim, etc in the whole house. I understand why everyone loves it. GORGEOUS.

[timl.b.]

Such a calm and reasonable presenter. Thank you. And the comments are so far above in quality than the comments you see on many YouTube channels.

[xXestXx]

First video I’ve seen questioning the true density of American Chestnut in the Eastern forests. Great work! I love to see the objectiveness.
Cheers!

[brendalucas]

Excellent video. Thank you for all your hard work. Certified Arborist and Forestry Technician.