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  1. Get Involved
  2. Volunteer
  3. Community Science
  4. American Chestnut Seed Orchard Community Science Project

News

  • Chestnut Orchard Volunteers Recognized for Service

    Anna Berry
    December 10, 2020

    Forest Society volunteers were honored with 2020 Spirit of New Hampshire awards, presented by Volunteer NH.

  • Forest Society Honors Ellen Kenny as Volunteer of the Year

    October 8, 2020

    Ellen Kenny was named the Trish Churchill Volunteer of the Year at the119th Annual Meeting of the Forest Society.

    Read more
  • Remembering Rocks Volunteer Ann Gruczka

    Nigel Manley
    September 25, 2020

    Annie Gruczka was a volunteer at The Rocks for nearly 25 years and a member of the Bretzfelder Memorial Park Committee.

American Chestnut Seed Orchard Community Science Project

American Chestnut

The American chestnut is a large, monoecious deciduous tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before the species was devastated by the chestnut blight, a fungal disease, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout its range, and was considered the finest chestnut tree in the world.

The Forest Society is partnering with the American Chestnut Foundation to start an American Chestnut Seed Orchard in 2019.  This is an effort to help develop a chestnut blight-resistant variety of American Chestnut, so that these majestic trees can be re-introduced into the forests of southern NH.  The seed orchard will be located at the Tom Rush Forest in Deering, NH, and will eventually have as many as 3,000 chestnut trees covering an acre of old field. 

Chestnut orchard volunteers may help with planting or innoculation events, data collection, or with routine care of the orchard (monthly check-ins where watering, mowing, weeding and infrastructure maintenance may be required).  Come and learn about this beautiful tree and be a part of the restoration effort!

Skills/Qualifications: Interest the American Chestnut Foundation's mission to restore the American Chestnut to northeastern forests.  Ability to help with orchard care (planting, watering, weeding, mowing, maintaining rodent guards and fencing, etc.), either in group workdays or shorter routine visits.  Routine maintenance volunteers should live within a reasonable driving distance of Deering, NH.  

Location: Tom Rush Forest, Deering NH.

Training required: Training will be provided by Forest Society and/or American Chestnut Foundation staff in Spring 2019.  Dates TBD.       

Commitment/Hours: Variable.  There will be larger group workdays with this effort (planting chestnut seeds, innoculating chestnut trees, weeding) as well as routine monitoring and maintenance check-in visits for local volunteers. 

Please contact Carrie Deegan at cdeegan@forestsociety.org or 545-2992 with questions and/or interest in helping in some capacity in this citizen science project!

Volunteers

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Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests54 Portsmouth St.Concord, NH 03301
Phone: 603.224.9945Fax: 603.228.0423info@forestsociety.org
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