Chestnut Blight

Chestnut Blight. . , Chestnut Blight Strikes! , First identified in 1904 in New York's Bronx Zoological Park, the chestnut blight is caused by an Asiatic fungus (Cryphonectrik parasitica) and is almost always lethal to the American chestnut. Moving through the range of the chestnut at a rate of up to 30 miles a year, by the 1950s the chestnut blight had devastated over 200 million acres, killing an estimated 4 billion chestnut trees. The loss of the chestnut is often cited as the worst ecological distaster of the 20th Century in the U.S. In fact, because of the unintentional import of chestnut blight, the federal government created its first plant quarantine laws., How The Blight Kills , Chestnut blight is characterized by blight fungus, which fees on the cambium tissue under the bark of the tree. The fungus creates cankers that break through the bark, cutting off the flow of nutrients between the leaves and the roots, which kills the tree. Typical cankers on young, smooth-barked trees first appear orange in contrast to the normal green or grey bark. Thick bark on larger trees becomes cracked and flaking., Stumped Sprouts , The roots of the chestnut are usually not affected by the fungus, and may continue to feed new sprouts that arise from around the base of the tree or stump for many years. These sprouts can sometimes grow 30 feet or more before succumbing to the chestnut blight. Sometimes a fortunate sprout will avoid the blight and grwo large enough to produce flowers and seed., The Washington Aqueduct , US Army Corps of Engineers and the TACF have a cooperative partnership throughout the American chestnut tree's former geographic range. The Corp's Washington Aqueduct participates in this partnership. On the hill across MacArthur Bouleard from this signage, we have planted a total of 16 American chestnut trees that have been scientifically developed for enhanced blight resistance. These special trees are part of the TACF's and the Corps' effort to return the chestnut tree to its former range throughout Appalachia. The Corps of Engineers strongly supports this goal, as an extension of its responsibilities for sound environmental stewardship of America's natural resources.