Volunteers to Breed Stronger American Chestnut Tree
Kelly Reeves
The leaves of an American chestnut sapling. To guard against blight, one sixteenth of its genes are from the Chinese chestnut. The sapling is a backcross three (BC3) in the American Chestnut Foundation's
breeding program.
Barbara Knapp
Volunteers use a 16-foot extension ladder to pollinate flowers of an American chestnut tree. The pollination occurred at the ThorpeWood orchard north of Frederick, Md. From left, Robert Strasser, Glenn Williams, and at bottom, Paul Eriksson, watershed forester for the Maryland Department of Natural Resources Forest Service.
Kelly Reeves
The fence around the ThorpeWood orchard protects the chestnut seedlings from hungry deer.
