By Mike Templeton

On any given weekend, you might find a good many of us with the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition in the woods around greater Cincinnati. Given time, most of us will head back to the Appalachian regions to explore the woods of old homeplaces. A love of the woods is something that can be strong among Appalachian people, urban and otherwise. Naturally, conservation of the natural world is a priority for us, and this is why UACC has been active locally with conservation projects such as partnering with the Millcreek Alliance. There have been catastrophic ecological losses in the Appalachian regions over the years. One massive example is the disappearance of a living symbol of Appalachia: the American Chestnut.

Our knowledge of the natural landscape in the Appalachian regions is actually limited. What we now see would be unrecognizable to those that originally inhabited these regions. One of the most prominent missing elements of the natural Appalachian landscape is the American Chestnut Tree. This was one of the largest and fastest growing trees in North America, and it once covered much of the Appalachian region. The range of the American Chestnut extended well into Ohio, and would have come almost to what we now call greater Cincinnati. That was until a blight, in the form of a pathogen called Cryphonectria parasitica arrived and began wiping out the American Chestnut all over the American landscape. This event was later complicated with the introduction of another blight, a fungus-like organism called Phytophthora cinnamomi, finally eliminated the massive American Chestnut altogether. While there are instances of the plant still in existence, it is considered functionally extinct.

The American Chestnut was once considered almost synonymous with Appalachia and was what forest scientists call a foundation species. Trees could reach over 100 feet with trunk diameters of eight feet, with stalks that bloomed with a white flower essential in the ecosystems of pollinators. The nuts fed all manner of forest mammals and birds, and humans too. The root systems of the American Chestnut infused the surrounding soil with elements like nitrogen, phosphorous, and magnesium that fed other tree species and essentially propagated the entire forest system. The loss of the American Chestnut interrupted natural cycles that had evolved over millennia, and the natural balance of the Appalachian region has never fully recovered.

That something as massive as the American Chestnut, a tree that rivaled the Sequoia on the west coast, could suddenly disappear is simply astounding. The trees were so large, and so abundant, homes were constructed from the wood. Furniture, fencing, tools—almost anything that required hard straight and durable wood was made from the American Chestnut. It was once said that railroad cars were filled with the chestnuts in the fall as they were shipped out around the country for the holidays. Farmers let their pigs run wild in the forests to feed and fatten up on the nuts that scattered along the forest floor, a practice called silvopasturing. To the Indigenous Peoples of Appalachia, and to the early colonizers from Europe, the thought that these giants of the forest would disappear within no more than about 50 years was utterly unthinkable. You can consult a work of fiction like Conrad Richter’s novel The Trees to get a sense of the absolutely breathtaking canopy of massive trees that once covered the State of Ohio. Chief among these trees was the American Chestnut. They once covered Ohio so completely that early settlers believed squirrels could hop branches all the way to the Pacific Ocean (the intervening landscape had not yet been explored).

The American Chestnut is listed as functionally extinct. This means it can no longer reproduce at a level that would allow it to propagate itself. It tends to die off at the level of the seedling. There are efforts underway now to return the American Chestnut to its former glory, and, ideally, bring the giants of the forest back to the landscape of the Appalachian regions and even Appalachian Ohio. One such effort is from the Appalachian Trail Conservancy. When workers from the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s were carving out the Appalachian Trail, they were working around the dead and decaying Chestnut trees. Now, the ATC is employing those who use the Appalachian Trail to help re-propagate the native trees along the trail. The ATC has supported research that has made it possible to develop a blight-resistant strain of the American Chestnut. Once approved for propagation, the plan is to have hikers plant seedlings along the entire length of the trail. This will begin the process of reintroducing the great American Chestnut to its former glory and return the ecosystem of the Appalachian range to its full potential. The biodiversity of Appalachia can return to its levels from before the blight, and this means a return of a great many species not seen in the region for decades.

Closer to home, the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) is developing a hybrid tree that includes the DNA from a blight resistant Asian Chestnut in the final strain of a new American Chestnut tree. Chestnut saplings are currently growing and maturing in Hocking Hills State Park with the long-range plan of reintroducing these magnificent trees to Ohio’s natural ecosystem. Researchers at the ODNR are working with other research organizations around the country to develop a new species of American Chestnut trees that can allow for a comeback of the magnificent trees. They say they are looking for a new generation of Johnny Appleseeds to cross the state planting the hybrids so they can cover the state with the tree that once defined the forests of Ohio.

The fate of the American Chestnut tree offers an important historical lesson on the dangers of transport and global movement. The blight that first impacted the American Chestnut is believed to have originated in Asia. With some care and screening, it could have been prevented. As we currently live with the Emerald Ash Borer and the Spotted Lantern Fly, we see that the lessons to be learned from history are ignored to our peril. The loss of a species is not an isolated event. It is the beginning of the loss of an ecosystem, and it can spell the end of ways of life for humans.. What was once a living symbol of Appalachia, the American Chestnut, has all but disappeared from the landscape and from memory. This is one of many reasons why the Urban Appalachian Community Coalition is actively supportive of conservation and education projects that help everyone understand the delicate and precious balance between our natural world and our lives.  

More information on the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and their work on the American Chestnut can be found at this at this link: appalachiantrail.org/official-blog/the-american-chestnut-tree

Information on the work of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources can be found at this link: cincinnatimagazine.com/article/saving-the-american-chestnut-tree.

Michael Templeton is a writer, and independent scholar. He is the author of The Chief of Birds: A Memoir published with Erratum Press and Impossible to Believe, published by Iff Books. He is also the author of Collected Apoems, forthcoming from LJMcD Communications and the awaiting of awaiting: a novella, with Nut Hole Publishing. Check out his profile in UACC’s Cultural Directory. He has published numerous articles and essays on contemporary culture and works of creative non-fiction as well as experimental works and poetry. He lives in West Milton, Ohio with his wife who is an artist.