BANGOR DAILY NEWS • November 1, 2024
About 4 billion American chestnut trees once spread from Georgia to Maine, according to the American Chestnut Foundation. Today, almost all are gone, victims of a blight that arrived from overseas and made the species functionally extinct around 1950. Maine has more wild chestnuts remaining than any other state, according to the local chapter of the foundation, and there might be up to 200 sites here where they still grow. Groups such as this one have spent decades trying to keep existing trees producing and create new genetic types to resist the blight. This year, the chapter tried a new strategy: planting American chestnut trees in public places all over the state instead of large, private research orchards. If all goes according to plan, a public chestnut grove will grow within an hour’s drive of every Maine town and a 10-minute walk from every school.