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Tug Hill Commission’s Winter Wildlife Webinar Series
Continues March 12 with American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project
Published: March 02, 2025 at
07:00 p.m.
By: Press Release
from NYS Tug Hill Commission
American Chestnut Research and Restoration
Tug Hill Winter Wildlife Webinar Series, Part 3:
March 12, 6 p.m.
WATERTOWN, NEW
YORK – The Tug Hill Commission and the American Chestnut Research and
Restoration Project invites the public to join a webinar on Wednesday,
March 12, at 6 p.m. to learn about ongoing conservation efforts of the
American chestnut tree (Castanea dentata), which once accounted for
nearly one in four trees in the Appalachian corridor. Register at tinyurl.com/tughillchestnut and a Zoom link
will be sent along with your registration confirmation email.
Today, American
Chestnuts are considered functionally extinct… but perhaps not for much
longer? This session, part of the Tug Hill Winter Wildlife Webinar Series,
will feature speaker Dakota Matthews, a Molecular Biology Lab Manager for
nine years with the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project at
State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry
(SUNY ESF). This webinar will highlight the ecological and economic
importance of the American chestnut tree, the history of its decline due to
a non-native fungal blight and the resulting impact on forests,
breakthroughs in genetic research and development of a blight-resistant
transgenic chestnut trees, and updates on chestnut breeding program and
field trials. Don’t miss the chance to learn more about these “Redwoods of
the East” and the hope for their resurgence!
The mission of
the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project at SUNY ESF is to
conduct basic and applied research that will lead to the development of
blight-tolerant American chestnut trees. The goal is to reintroduce a
population of these tolerant trees back into forest ecosystems of the
eastern United States. The project applies a multifaceted approach,
including identifying plant pathogen tolerance-enhancing genes, developing
American chestnut tissue culture, field testing chestnut trees, encouraging
public participation through the identification of rare remnant surviving
chestnut trees, collecting and exchanging viable nuts, and establishing
large restoration plantations throughout New York State.
This webinar is
part of the Tug Hill Winter Wildlife Webinar Series, which explores the
region’s diverse wildlife and conservation efforts. The final webinar in
April 2025 will focus on raptors.
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The New York
State Tug Hill Commission is a non-regulatory state agency charged with
helping local governments, organizations, and citizens shape the future of
the region, especially its environment and economy. The commission uses a
grassroots approach to build local capacity and provide technical
assistance in land use planning, community development, and natural
resource management.
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