Chestnuts

I remember an article in the Globe written by Chet Raymo several decades ago telling of a remnant population of bluebirds at Sheep Pasture. Bluebirds were in trouble due to competition for nest sites with starlings and English sparrows. In the following decades through the work of Wild Birds Unlimited's Bob Hurd with help from Doc Everett, Bob Benson, and many others bluebirds have made a huge comeback. At Sheep Pasture Bob Benson maintains a series of nests that is part of a trail that now stretches from Wheaton Farm through Stoughton. We're very proud of our role in reestablishing a native species, and soon we'll have the chance to start on a new species.

Last evening John Grant, long time member of the Conservation Commission, spoke about his  dream of restoring the American chestnut to Easton. The American chestnut once was the dominant tree in southern New England's forest. Their reliable nut production fed wildlife and people alike, and they also provided some of the best lumber. About a century ago a blight killed over 4 billion chestnut trees reducing the wildlife that depended on them by 60 percent. Today, chestnuts still sprout from the stumps of these dead giants, but these sprouts seldom live long enough to produce nuts.

The Chestnut has many friends like John who have spent decades trying to produce a blight resistant tree. The Chinese chestnut is blight resistant, but it doesn't have tasty nuts or high quality timber. Just as you might cross two varieties of tomatoes to create a new hybrid, people have been crossing American chestnuts and their Chinese cousins. Unlike tomatoes, however, these chestnut crossses take years to prove themselves. Success looked near about a decade ago until it was determined that the trees with the best blend of blight resistance and American qualities didn't pass these traits on in their nuts. It's one thing to plant a blight resistant single tree, but if the chestnut is to truly recover it has to help itself, or more precisely squirrels have to help by hiding and forgetting about some of the one to two bushels of nuts produced annually by a mature tree.

John announced last night the arrival of trees that are 15/16th American chestnut with all the qualities of the original plus blight resistance and viable nuts. Sheep Pasture has been chosen as one site for field testing the new plants. It is a perfect time for us as we begin implementing a new ten year forestry plan. Yes, folks we will be chopping down trees at Sheep Pasture as well as planting new ones. More on that after a big meeting next week!