By Teresa Crerand
 MILFORD - Restoration of the American Chestnut in Pike County was the focus of a workshop held at Grey Towers National Historic Landmark on April 1 with leading chestnut researchers and practitioners, landowners, and conservation educators.
 

 The purpose of the seminar was to review research, the latest development in restoration science and practices, and explore actions the Milford Experimental Forest (MEF) could take to encourage landowners to participate in restoration efforts.
 

 Peter Pinchot, MEF director, gave some history about the MEF, a 1,400-acre research forest in Pike County in partnership with the USDA Forest Service, Pinchot Institute for Conservation, and the Pinchot family.
 Pinchot stated a majority of the region was forested 100 years ago when Yale students conducted research at Grey Towers in Milford.
 

Today, there is exurban sprawl, overabundant deer, severe damage to forests from overbrowse, and Pinchot estimated there are ten oak seedlings per acre when 500 per acre are needed to regenerate a forest.
 

Leila Pinchot, MEF chestnut program coordinator, gave an overview of the chestnut restoration project in the Delaware Highlands region and need to involve landowners for a successful program.
 

 Leila showed chestnut trees she planted from seed two months earlier that were already one foot high with large healthy leaves.
 Over 100 trees raised by Leila are to be planted within the MEF sometime this summer as part of the restoration project.
 

 Dr. Gary Alt, Pennsylvania Game Commission (PGC) Deer Management Section supervisor, stated, "We have to work together as scientists and educators across the Commonwealth to teach people to understand issues of cutting down trees."
 

"We rarely hear about the sustainability of forestry and the role of forestry in a forest ecosystem," said Alt, "and that is why I take an aggressive role in education."
 Alt explained the forest must be prepared for planting the American Chestnut and noted it could be a decade before the deer herd is under control.
 

 Alt recalled his greatest shock was seeing the forest ecosystem where deer is a dominant problem and severe impacts are so dramatic.
 Deer should be part of the ecosystem instead of dominating the system, said Alt.
 

"From a wildlife perspective, we are losing some of our best mast producers," Alt said. "I believe it would be a real tribute to the state of Pennsylvania if we could bring back the American Chestnut."
 

Ann Leffel of Brogue, board member and tree breeding coordinator at The American Chestnut Foundation, gave a presentation on restoration as a long-range program.
 Leffel described a crossback breeding program to help make the American chestnut more blight resistant and explained 21,056 trees were planted from 1995 to 2003 with cooperation from numerous organizations.
 

 The program is suitable for backyard breeders and volunteer landowners interested in participating in a ten-year breeding program.
 Dr. Sandra Anagnostakis, agricultural scientist at the Connecticut Agricultural Experiment Station in New Haven, talked about biological control for chestnut restoration.
 

 Anagnostakis explained the first blight was discovered in New York in 1904 but problems were noticed as early as 1890.
 

 The problems in 1890 could have been introduced into the United States with mail order shipments of nursery stock from Japan, said Anagnostakis, since European nuts were bigger than the American chestnut nuts and more appealing to grow. The blight was confirmed by 1908.
 

 Anagnostakis referenced 44,035 bearing grafted trees on a 400 acre site in Shamokin owned by Col. C.K. Sober that produced nuts in such abundance that Sober shipped them by the boxcar loads but all the trees were killed by the blight.
 

Anagnostakis explained virus strains were discovered that weakened the blight fungus from destroying the bark and the tree's natural defenses then took over.
 Blight cankers damage trees to the extent they cannot even be used as lumber.
 

 Japanese chestnut is hardy and can survive winter weather and chestnuts grow best in clear-cut or timber harvested areas but must be protected from deer.

 Alex Day, DCNR nursery operation's manager at Penn Nursery & Wood Shop in Spring Mills, brought a nearly seven feet high American Chestnut tree from the nursery representing three years of growth that he considered one of the smallest trees at the nursery.

 

 

 

Hanover, operations coordinator at The American Chestnut Foundation, examine the roots of a three year old American chestnut tree nearly seven feet high.

 

 

 Chestnut trees are a fast growing tree, said Day, who exposed the roots for everyone to examine.
 

 Day noted the importance of soils and described site preparation to plant tree seedlings and benefits of mechanical weeding.
 

Day anticipated that about 400 chestnut trees would be planted this year in an orchard grassy field.

 Chandis Klinger, landowner and chestnut restorationist from Middleburg, gave an overview of 250 Chinese chestnut seeds he purchased from the PGC and pointed out the nuts must be planted with the nut top exposed or it will rot in the ground.
 

 Klinger described several methods of planting seeds to encourage growth, and how to protect young trees from wildlife with wire cages to keep deer from browsing on the trees.
 

 One watering method used by Klinger was removing a stick placed one foot deep in the ground parallel to a young tree and pouring water into the hole to assure moisture reaches the tree roots and avoid runoff above ground.
 

 Dr. Susan Stout, project leader at the USDA Forest Service Warren Forestry Science Lab, said Allegheny research goes back to the 1920s and reviewed a case study and sustainable management of a deer impacted area where there were 40 to 60 deer per square mile.
 

 Stout stressed an inventory of over and understory must be done to determine the actual prescription needed for tree growth in each specific area.
 

Lori McKean, USDA Forest Service public affairs officer at Grey Towers and founder and director of the Eagle Institute, reviewed speaking strategies to groups of various ages in public outreach educational programs.
 

 McKean also suggested hands-on programs to interest school students in a program to grow chestnut trees.
 

 Daniel Banks, USDA Forest Service conservation education specialist at Grey Towers, gave an overview relating to programs he designs for teachers tailored to each class grade level that meet state standards.
 

 The 37 individuals attending the workshop divided into three groups and held two breakout discussion sessions during the day to review ideas for a MEF restoration project, ideal areas for plantings and breeding programs.