Although Arbor Day is 11 days away, Ohio University professor and forest ecologist Brian McCarthy celebrated it early by planting 800 American chestnut seedlings.
McCarthy and student volunteers traveled to the Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area on Saturday and planted the seedlings on a 20-acre plot to restore the once vibrant tree.
The 3,500-acre Jockey Hollow Wildlife Area is located about two and a half hours northeast from Athens in Cadiz and is a former strip mine. McCarthy said he hopes to transform mine land into a lively forest full of chestnut trees. There, the grass and poor soil conditions have prevented a resurgence of other trees.
American chestnuts grow well on those dry
well-drained low nutrient sites McCarthy continued. Small numbers of tree species do well on reclaimed sites.
The American chestnut tree produces high-quality timber and nutritious nuts for the surrounding wildlife, McCarthy said.
The trees once spread over much of the eastern part of the United States but fell victim to a fungal blight imported from Chinese chestnuts and became extinct in the 1900s. It is estimated that four billion trees died.
Look at the landscape to this day ' old barns and original cabins were built from the American chestnut
and the wood is extremely important
he said. It (the wood) helps diversify our economy in terms what we could do with that wood.
This year's study involved a new approach in reclaiming mine land. Developed by the Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative, the Forest Reclamation Approach utilizes soil dumped on the ground by a dump truck. The loose, porous soil helps the seeds and seedlings thrive because of the better irrigation, McCarthy said.
The dirt piles were spread out over 20 acres and were eight feet high and 12 to 15 feet wide and could best compare to looking like a landscape of the moon, McCarthy said.
Last spring, McCarthy planted 1,200 American chestnut tree seedlings at the Tri-Valley Wildlife Area near Zanesville, where 80 percent of the seedlings survived.
McCarthy's current study involves help from a variety of organizations. The Ohio Department of Natural Resources helped McCarthy find an optimal location for his study and The American Chestnut Foundation donated the seeds and seedlings.
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