Reintroduction of the American Chestnut

“Was looking around and saw this site. They're trying to reintroduce the American Chestnut, which was a very impressive towering tree that once dominated the Appalachians. Then a blight struck in the early 1900s when a foreign species was brought into the U.S., and by the end of WWII almost all of them were gone.

Today, this organization has engineered a blight resistant strain of the original American Chestnut. They've planted over a hundred acres of these trees, and in a few years should be ready to introduce into wilder areas.

Their goal is to restore this impressive tree to its former place in the Eastern forests. Have a look.”

“Thats cool.

I just read somewhere that the Dutch Elm all over the U.S is haveing a bad time becuase of Dutch Elm Sickness.

I saw a few down in Hoosier National Forest this weekend that looked like they had the problem!

Its too bad becuase they are a very nice tree to look at.

8)”

“That is very cool.”

“The Sudden Oak Death has the potential to become the 'next' chestnut blight or Dutch Elm disease. It is currently found in central CA and southern OR. Let's keep it there. Likewise the Asian longhorned beetle, or any other undesirable alien.

To help prevent the spread of any disease, insect, or noxious weed let's all practice TNT or Take No Trace. Upon returning to your vehicle at the trailhead open up your tent or bag and shake out any seeds, spores, or hitchhikers. Clean any mud off your boots. As soon you hit pavement again stop your vehicle and clean any dirt/mud buildup under the vehicle.

The forest you save might be right in your own neighborhood.”

“*struggling against the urge to post a joke and degenerate a worthy thread*........aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



Ok...i'll probably do it after lunch”

“So you figured you'd make it unreadable instead?”

“Nothing better than chestnut stuffing for Cornish game hens! Mmmmmm!”

“ah damn..i even spaced the argh...sorry about messing up the spacing”

“About 25 years ago my grandmother figured she'd "improve" her heavenly Thanksgiving dressing by adding slivered chestnuts to it. No one like it, but we were all too afraid to speak up.

So, because no one said anything, she did the same thing again next year. Again, no one spoke up. We thought the fact that there was actually dressing left over would be a big enough hint.

The year after that, my brothers and I made a point of asking my mother if Granny was going to ruin the dressing again this year by adding the chestnuts to it. My mom and her sister confronted my grandmother with the facts. Her only reply was something on the order of, "Well why didn't you say something before?"”

“What do you have when you have Nuts on our Chest?...Chestnuts.

What do you have when you have”

“What do you have when you have Nuts on your Chest?...Chestnuts.

What do you have when you have
Nuts on the Wall......Walnuts.

What do you have when you have
Nuts on your Chin......*hehehe*...”

“man my comp is messed up..excuse me today”

“Whatever you were drinking last night, have a couple more! You'll feel a lot better!”

“ban opie! ban opie! ban opie!

anyhoo, i was reading about the blight that killed them all in *A Walk In the Woods* the other day...i read like half of that book in one sitting, and i'd never met a Hiking Book i really liked before!

1 in 4 trees in the region of the AT killed! i thought that was crazy...i couldn't even imagine.”

“The chestnut is still around.
The blight attacks the tree once it reaches a certain height and kills any growth above that point. So the chestnut tree remains shrublike. The chestnut 'shrub' is still common in many locations.”

“Ultimately, the blight killed all the chestnuts except those that sprouted and grew to the point where the blight killed them.
The wood is remarkable. You can still find old chestnut in the woods, and it's still hard after all those years and being in an advanced state of decay.”

“Let's fix Opie's tinkering.”

“Let's fix Opie's tinkering.”

“Let's fix Opie's tinkering.”

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“Keep going, only 25 to go Steve”

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“And counting down as I speak”

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“Steve is getting tired. Just 11 more to go Steve!”

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“You're almost there. Go for it!”

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“Keep going, keep going ...”

“Not much longer”