(Proposed)

American Chestnut Preservation Project

What

The collecting and growing of American Chestnut trees (Castanea dentata) from the last remaining blight-free stock left in North America in eight remote locations in Southwest Oregon and Northwest California.

Why

In order of importance and priority:

A. To keep the American Chestnut species alive until a solution to the blight is found.

B. To provide samples of nuts, leaves, saplings and other material for research purposes to organizations that want to bring back the American Chestnut.

C. After five to ten years (when thinnings are necessary) to begin to provide trees and nuts for sale to the public if the first two priorities permit any leftovers to defray some of the costs and this will spread out the gene pool of the tree.

What Does YYYYYYY Get Out of This?

Good PR. YYYYYYYY can advertise that they are saving a species that once accounted for one quarter of the trees in the eastern United States. In an age where corporations are demonized by socialist environmental groups, YYYYYYY can claim they are doing something real. The econuts are not doing anything like this. They don’t save species. Not anymore. That is left to the handful of conservation groups left out there. Even the Nature Conservancy, which has done so much good in prior decades, has started to leave its original mission of saving species to go political like the other groups did.

YYYYYYYY could say they are saving a species and when the project is underway, they could say that they have done two things that the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation and a host of others used to do, but no longer are willing to do:

1. Save a species from eventual extinction and 2. Do something for the public good.

How and When

Year 1

A. Planning Stage and Permits Applications. Selection of locations, design of facilities, planning of finances, acquisition of permits from counties and states, etc.

One of the most important tasks of this stage: find out if anyone has lists of Castanea dentata trees left in the Willamette Valley. (There didn’t appear to be any when I’ve checked this).

If not, get a group of volunteers, probably from the local colleges to circulate flyers asking about tree locations and describing the project and why. Perhaps an announcement could be made on TV and/or radio about the project to try to reach landowners who still have chestut trees.

B. Select and purchase widely-spaced 10 acre plots, one in each of the following isolated localities/river basins in NW California, SW Oregon:

       California:

               North Fork Salmon River NE of Forks, CA

               South Fork Salmon River, SE of Forks, CA

               Salmon River, W of Forks, CA

               Indian Creek north of Happy Camp, CA,

               Scott River between Fort Jones and Scott Bar, CA

                       Oregon:

               O’brien/Takelma area SW of Cave Junction, OR

               Chetco River, inland of Brookings, OR

               Pistol River, inland of coast.

A total of 80 acres in five major river basins that are picked for their isolation from major Interstate Highways and other corridors of commerce and farming. The plots would be separated by distance and ridgelines to prevent the potential spread of pathogens from one plot to another. The Salmon River basin has 3 plots due to its isolation from most farming and most uses of any sort and difficulty in reaching it from population centers (meaning most persons won’t bother and so less vehicle traffic and thus less chance of pathogens reaching the plots).

Each of the ten acre plots above will need a concrete shed to store equipment, a small hydrogenerator setup or other electrical system as most locations do not have access to line power and it wouldn’t do to lose a year or decade of samples in the freezer to a power failure. Communications of some sort will be necessary as most locations do not have access to phone lines or cell phone towers.

C. Construct a small facility near O’Brien, OR, likely on one of the plots, for the heavy equipment, processing equipment, seed starting area and laboratory.  Construct two similar facilities near Happy Camp, CA and near Forks, CA, also likely on one of the plots.

Each facility will need space for storage, test areas, a growing area for seedlings, laboratory equipment, a basement area with a conventional freezer and possibly a deep freezer for long-term storage of samples. A bunk, sink and shower would be extremely handy for those times when work requires staying on site or working on nearby sites (as in the remote Salmon River basin) overnight or longer due to the long travel times required by the remoteness of the locations.

D. Initial preparation of plots. Remove trees and brush. Terrace if needed. Fences to keep deer, elk and squirrels out.

E. After finding out where the trees are, collect a few chestnuts from every tree one can find left standing in the Willamette Valley. If possible, get information on what part of the nation the tree originally came from.

Alternately, and much more likely, due to the large number of trees still left in the Willamette Valley, pay landowners $50 to have them collect a quart of chestnuts “in the rough”, that is to say, unprocessed, from every landowner that has a tree one can find in the Willamette Valley. If possible get information on what part of the nation the tree originally came from. Hoping for at least 1000 landowners to take part.

F. Clean nuts of potential fungal pathogens. Save a few to start immediately and freeze the rest in the freezer. Start nuts. Place seedlings in pots when old enough. Let grow over the winter months in the seed-growing facility under grow lights.

Year 2

A. Prepare plots. Turn under leftover grass and forbs from last year. Sterilize soil with steam to remove potential pathogens and soil-dwelling rodents.

B. Plant seedlings.

C. Weed as necessary.

Year 2 Through Year 4

Maintenance of the plots, such as mowing the brush down around the trees to reduce fire hazards. Troubleshooting the saplings such as weeding, checking for blight and other pathogens. Removing rodents. Part-time work during many periods.

Year 5

First thinning of saplings. Continuation of maintenance from earlier years.

Year 10

Second thinning of saplings. Continuation of maintenance of earlier years. The first small nut harvests will likely begin between five and ten years.

After 10 Years

Probably be two or more thinnings but likely to be 5 year or longer increments between them, depending upon tree spacing. Eventually the trees will become large enough to produce nuts in quantity. Once they are large enough, new starts can be grown to sapling size and sold.

Who

I’d like to do it. Few individuals have my interest in such a project, nor my background in the sciences and engineering. There are others out there who could no doubt do it, as well, but do they have the interest? Particularly after the first year is over, when things settle down? Then there is the matter of the isolated locations where most now don’t want to live and work. Conversely, a small town like Cave Junction (where I would plan to live if this project becomes real) is ideal for someone like me. How many people would freak out at the idea of spending so much time working in places where there is no phone, no electricity, no nothing, really, for tens of miles? When I worked for NOAA, I spent a great deal of time out surveying for various projects in those forests in northern California and half the time it was alone, forty or fifty miles from the nearest help if something went wrong. One learns to plan ahead.

For the first year, it would require many persons to set up the project and get it running. Realtors to find the properties for the plots. Surveyors to survey the properties. An engineer to design the three facilities, sheds, hydropower and communications. I have some definite ideas on the design of the facilities, such as using concrete, rather than wood and adding silica fume and extra rebar so as to make them more resistant to earthquakes and floods. Using concrete is actually cheaper than wood these days, as well, and having a standard plan for all three facilities and a standard plan for the sheds for the 8 plots will reduce the cost, as well.

Once the initial construction is finished and the plots prepared, one person can run the project and perform the work. Functions like maintenance and repair of heavy equipment and laboratory equipment will have to be contracted out. (See notes below on that.) Like other sorts of farming, there will be months with terrific work periods of 12+ hours and other times when little is going on except maintenance.

At 10 years and out, when nuts start being a concern, it might be useful to hire local high schoolers who could trap or shoot the squirrels and voles who manage to get into plots as eventually, even with fences, it will happen.

Legal and Writeup

At least one lawyer in each state would have to be consulted periodically for advice on the proper way to do this and file the permits and conduct the operation. For example, water rights, small hydropower for each plot and facility (line power is not available in most of the area and in those areas where it is available, one doesn’t want to lose 10 years of samples from a loss of power!), pesticides, fertilizers, etc, all require permits. It would be necessary to consult a CPA and a financial planner with expertise in both California and Oregon several times per year.

A log of daily operations and a log of funds expended would be necessary. Since some scientific and agricultural organizations would be interested, a writeup each year of techniques used, results and what lessons were learned would be useful for peer-reviewed publication.

Salient Points

—The attempts by various organizations and universities to date to restore the chestnut have mostly been to breed it with Asian and European forms of chestnut. While this might mean chestnuts could be grown in the eastern U.S. forests, they would not be American chestnuts.

—The Willamette Valley, with its terrific amounts of farming and nursery operations, has seen a constant stream of pathogens and invading species such as sudden oak death and  kudzu. It’s only a matter of time until the Chestnut Blight arrives on nursery stock or soil. That would end the species, effectively.

—If, by some miracle, some pathogen doesn’t harm or elimate the chestnut trees in the Willamette Valley, they will eventually get old and die off or the land will be developed and the trees removed. The last thousands of unblighted American Chestnut trees will be gone. Their genetics need to be preserved.

—For those wanting to develop disease-resistant strains or preserve the genome, it would be helpful to them in providing stock, nuts and other samples. (They must be grown somewhere without the blight in order to be blight-free.)

Notes

Originally, I’d intended for the project to be a for-profit business, but when it became clear what it would require to keep the species alive and how long it would be before nuts would be produced in quantity and other samples produced in any quantity, it wouldn’t work as a for-profit, at least for a decade and much more likely, 20 years from it’s inception. As fast as trees grow, they require time.

Maintenance of the heavy equipment, some medium equipment and some of the facility equipment will be difficult due to the remote locations. In an area with heavy farming like the Rogue Valley some 70 to 120 miles from the plots, companies exist to service agricultural equipment. In this case, it’s likely that, when equipment like the excavator needs its routine maintenance and those times that it breaks down, it will have to be taken via trailer to the Rogue Valley to a company that works on them, rather than having a contractor come out to work on them. Some facility equipment might be done the same way, but it presents a difficulty: how does one service equipment that cannot be moved if the equipment is too far from contractor’s normal service areas?

Electricity will have to be generated on site as line power is not available. All facilities will have to provide their own due to the distance from any power lines. Microhydro is suggested, due to the large number of small streams with high gradients in the areas. Modern systems are very reliable and low maintenance.

Water will have to tested for use. Not all surface water in the region is potable, with some water having high levels of arsenic, mercury and other compounds. Water quality might affect the trees as some trees take up metals into plant structures and others do not. I have not found a reference that indicates it one way or another with Castanea dentata, which is not surprising. In any event, some potable water will be necessary at each site or at least at each facility. Water rights for each plot will have to be secured initially for starting the trees before the root systems are developed. Eventually, rainfall will likely be sufficient, given that the locations of the plots receive from 40 to 60 inches of rainfall (or snow) each year. It would be logical to have water tanks for use at each plot to conserve water.

Locations of the plots are recommended to be midway to the upper reaches of the watersheds that they are to be located in. 2000 to 4000 feet is suggested and this is within the historic range of the chestnut. This is because what agriculture and home gardens are located in the river bottoms, for the most part and any nursery stock that might be contaminated with the blight or other pathogen is more likely to be in the river bottoms, as well. Some pathogens move via streamflow and thus placement of the plots above potential contamination sources may be useful.

Wildfire is a warm-season concern in the area and so a sprinker system to water the trees down and prevent the starting of/spread of fire in each plot is recommended, connected with the water tanks mentioned above.

Given the propensity for wildfire, flooding and the possibility of severe earthquake and slides in the area, it’s recommended that all buildings be reinforced concrete, made with 7% silica fume and extra rebar.

Windows and doors should have shutters made of the same material in case of wildfire. The idea is to be able to close up everything before evacuating and have the greatest chance that everything is intact when one returns. No one should even think of trying to weather a fire on site because too many things can happen. (Power cut, medical emergency, etc.)

For any plot that is in a flood plain (not recommended), it’s recommended that an inverted V-shaped concrete wall buried half of its height in the ground, constructed of the same materials, be erected at the top elevation of the property to deflect debris flows away from the plot.

Once trees are well established, pave “ruts” between trees to to drive on to prevent downcutting into the soil by tires and erosion by water. Concrete is recommended as one would only have to do it once every fifty or more years if done right, i.e. allowed to cure before use. With the 7% silica-fume mix mentioned above with some rebar to control cracking, 4” thick would probably suffice. Asphalt is not recommended as it would be a never-ending job and a never-ending cost with maintaining it and occasional repaving because of weathering and plants constantly breaking it up. Tree roots easily deform thin asphalt, as well.

Possibilities

Nets to prevent birds flocking to eat nuts? Impractical due to the size of the land. A ten acre plot (if square) is 660 feet on a side. It’s probably better to have a method to scare the birds away, if one can be found.

It might be possible to coordinate with some conservation group to have a few ringtails or similar sensitive, but human-compatible species about to prevent rodents and squirrels from becoming a problem. Ringtails are good mousers and tend to gravitate toward humans, anyway, so they may volunteer themselves if given a chance.

Hollow out a small-sized underground area with climate control for experiments and to save samples of the tree long term. The basic idea would be to isolate the seeds and saplings from outside influences and to provide a place for the frozen nuts to be stored for long periods, if necessary until a cure for the blight is found.  This is not a necessity, though the isolation of the plots should be enough and it would add a great deal of expense.

Wildfire is common in all areas of National Forest and BLM forest in the area. It may be useful to allow water drafting for fire-fighting vehicles from the plots or to occasionally allow firefighters to stay at the facilities when in the field. (Generate some goodwill with the Forest Service and BLM).