The American Chestnut

Don Surrette

The American chestnut tree was an essential component of the entire eastern US ecosystem as the single most important food source for a wide variety of wildlife. The chestnut lumber industry was a major aspect of turn of the century Transylvania economy, and the American chestnut tree reigned over 200 million acres of eastern woodlands from Maine to Florida, and from the Piedmont west to the Ohio Valley, until succumbing to a lethal fungus infestation, known as the chestnut blight, during the first half of the 20th century. Don Surrette, a member of the non-profit American Chestnut Foundation, will present a program about the American Chestnut at 1 p.m. Saturday March 12th at the Transylvania Heritage Museum.