Workshop aimed at promoting native chestnut populations

Before the blight, American chestnuts were majestic forest trees, sometimes called “the Redwoods of the East.” A keystone species, one in four trees of the eastern US forest was a chestnut. These huge trees were highly valued since the golden hardwood resisted rot, and its crop of sweet nutlets fed abundant wildlife and generations of Americans. In NW Ohio, chestnuts grew along Lake Erie and in the Oak Openings Region.  Sara Fitzsimmons of the American Chestnut Foundation based out of Penn State led an informational workshop that taught attendees the importance of the historic trees as well as how to improve the populations through good management and growing practices.

Co-sponsored with Lange Tree Farm, Lucas and Fulton Soil & Water Conservation Districts, Wild Ones Oak Openings, Metroparks of the Toledo Area, OSU-Lucas County Extension, Owens Community College, and ODNR Maumee State Forest, Black Swamp Conservancy, The Oak Openings Green Ribbon Initiative.