seattlepi.nwsource.com — It's hard to imagine that just over 100 years ago the American Chestnut Tree was a dominant tree the in the eastern US, but it was almost completely wiped out by blight. Now a stand of trees found thriving in Georgia gives hope the the Chestnut could once again become an American tradition.
May 19, 2006 View in Crawl 4
kaylaMay 19, 2006
Pretty.
hmtksteveMay 19, 2006
Foolish person... Falling for the "things were better when we had no tech" stories...Nothing preserves a species (flora or fauna) better then private ownership.I've heard about the evil lumber companies who deforest America and leave wastelands with nothing but stumps in their wake... this is simply not true! Trees are a renewable resource, timber companies plant more new trees then they cut down existing trees. Why? Because they have a monetary interest in there being more trees for them to cut down in the future!Are cows going extinct? No! Why? Because farmers (and hungry people) have a vested interest in keeping the critters from going extinct!What about elephants? In African countries that allow for limited hunting the elephants are rising in number, those countries who out-right ban the hunting are seeing the numbers drop, why? Because when you regulate the hunting of the elephants you have a vested interest in seeing that the stock is there for next years hunt! If you do not regulate the animals then people will just hunt them to extinction because they have no vested financial interest in the animals surviving!When you borrow a tool from your neighbor, do you mis-use it? If you do your neighbor will no longer allow you to borrow tools. So, you have a vested interest in taking care of the tool so you can borrow more tools in the future!The quickest way to destroy something is to remove private ownership and financial interest. If beef was banned tomorrow how many cattle farms would bother raising cows anymore? They would change over to something new...
hmtksteveMay 19, 2006
***Umm, isn't that akin to being excited about a previously-thought "extinct" animal being discovered so that you can make coats from its pelts?***No, it's more in line with being excited about a previously-thought "extinct" vegetable being discovered so that you can make dinner with it.
fartingbobMay 19, 2006
How can it be a tradition? its just another tree. Thats like saying this pebble is a tradition.Anyway, evolution dictates this tree might not be suited to its climate and location, you cant fight evolution forever.
gbraunMay 19, 2006
From the Canadian Chestnut Council (<a class="user" href="http://www.uoguelph.ca/~chestnut/)">http://www.uoguelph.ca/~chestnut/)</a> Current Status of American Chestnut in Canada:"- In Ontario, there is a wide occurrence of Chestnut stump sprouts surviving cycles of Blight dieback and regrowth. As well, there are a number of woodlots with large healthy trees that appear to have escaped Chestnut blight so far. The number of large healthy trees appears to be greater in Ontario than elsewhere throughout the Chestnut's natural range.- These surviving trees represent an important source of Chestnut germplasm that is adapted to Ontario conditions, and has been the primary source of nuts for collection and distribution of new seedlings. These trees will also be used in the disease resistance breeding program being initiated by the CCC."Other stands of large trees are present through Carolinian forests in Ontario and elsewhere (such as Nova Scotia).
fewrecksMay 19, 2006
I don't know about this...do we really need more nuts that look taste like chicken nuggets (they really do, at least the italian ones do)?