"Across Appalachia, scientists and foresters are trying to reintroduce a hybrid version, helping to revive damaged land while also bringing back a beloved tree."
"WEST LAFAYETTE, Ohio — Michael French trudged through a thicket of prickly bramble, unfazed by the branches he had to swat away on occasion in order to arrive at a quiet spot of hilly land that was once mined for coal. Now, however, it is patched with flowering goldenrods and long yellow-green grasses and dotted with tree saplings.
The sight, he acknowledged, would seem unimpressive to most. Yet it might be Mr. French’s most prized accomplishment. To him, the young trees symbolize what could be a critical comeback for some of the country’s vanishing forests, and for one tree in particular, the American chestnut.
“I don’t see it how most people see it,” he said. “I look at this and I see how it’s going to be in 80 to 100 years.”
By then, Mr. French envisions that the chestnut, a beloved tree nearly wiped out a century ago by a blight-causing fungus, will be among those that make up an expansive forest of native trees and plants."
Elena Shao reports for the New York Times with photographs by Maddie McGarvey September 16, 2022.
SEE ALSO:
"Gene Editing Could Revive A Nearly Lost Tree. Not Everyone Is On Board." (Washington Post)
"Can Genetic Engineering Bring Back the American Chestnut?" (New York Times Magazine: 4/30/2020)
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