The Georgia Piedmont Land Trust (GPLT) protects land where you live, work and play.
We protect land that supports healthy habitats where wildlife thrives and people can connect with nature.
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GPLT Attends 3rd and Final
Whitfield County Stakeholder Meeting
In 2016 GPLT partnered with the American Battlefield Trust and Whitfield County to protect a 300 acre battlefield at Rocky Face Ridge. This property will become an iconic park for the Dalton area providing visitors outdoor recreational amenities that will include hiking, biking, picnicking and historic interpretations. Whitfield County is thoughtfully preparing this park for public access. The process involved key stakeholder groups and resulted in brand and design standards that will ensure clear identity and communications.
On April 12 GPLT attended the third and final branding meeting. Kaizen Collaborative, the creative organization guiding the group through the process and creating the designs, presented the new park name and design that was selected by the group. The name will be
Rocky Face Ridge Park
and the logo pictured encompasses the iconic features that the group felt defined the park.
Whitfield County will now move forward with the real work of preparing the park for the future enjoyment of visitors.
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GPLT Participates in the
American Chestnut Hybrid Project
In April 2012 the Georgia Piedmont Land Trust (GPLT) became a participant in the testing and trial program sponsored by The American Chestnut Foundation. The goal of the program is for participants to plant American Chestnut seedlings in an orchard or forest setting.
The goal of the American Chestnut Foundation Project is to develop a blight-resistant American chestnut tree via scientific research and breeding, and restore the tree to its native forests along the eastern United States.
Board member Dale Higdon, a retired GA Forestry Commission Forester, is the champion, leader and resident expert for the GPLT Hybrid American Chestnut project. The first GPLT orchard was planted in March 2013. A second GPLT orchard was planted on another GPLT property in February 2018. Control plantings of American chestnuts and Chinese chestnuts were planted along with the new test hybrids.
As a participant in the American Chestnut Foundation project GPLT has committed to provide regular reporting and photos documenting the health and progress of the chestnut plantings.
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History of the American Chestnut
The American chestnut is a large tree of the beech family native to eastern North America. Before this native tree succumbed to the infestation of the chestnut blight, a disease caused by an Asian bark fungus, it was one of the most important forest trees throughout eastern North America, and was considered the finest chestnut tree in the world.
This chestnut blight was accidentally introduced into North America on imported Asiatic chestnut trees. It was first noticed on American chestnut trees in what was then the New York Zoological Park, now known as the Bronx Zoo, in the borough of The Bronx,
New York City, in 1904, by chief forester Hermann Merkel. Merkel estimated that by 1906 blight had infected 98 percent of the chestnut trees in the borough.
While Chinese chestnut trees evolved with the blight and developed a strong resistance, the American chestnut had little resistance. The airborne bark fungus spread 50 miles per year and in a few decades killed up to 4 billion American chestnut trees which represented about ¼ of the hardwood tree population.
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GPLT American Chestnut Project Update
On April 11 GPLT board member Dale Higdon took John French, GA Chapter American Chestnut Foundation board
member, to the GPLT orchard sites. John is a plant pathologist who worked for over 30 years studying plant diseases. John will be testing both GPLT chestnut orchards for a root disease, Phytophthora, that is very common in the Piedmont area. If this root disease is present on one or both sites GPLT may get some additional seedlings to plant in order to determine the resistance to the disease.
At the GPLT orchard 1 site there are 7 hybrid chestnuts (approximately 95% American-5% Chinese), 2 of these were planted 4 years ago and so far they have survived, the B3F3 hybrid pictured below was planted 3 years ago. There are 4 Chinese chestnuts, one of which was planted as a seed in 2013 and is approximately 10' tall. 17 of the 20 seedlings planted at the GPLT orchard 2 site in Februray, 2018 are living and appear to be doing well.
John dug up the 3 dead trees from orchard 2 and took soil samples from this site. He will send them to Clemson University where extensive research is being done on chestnut blight. GPLT looks forward to receiving the results of the soil and plant testing along with recommendations for maintaining healthy orchards.
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GPLT Attends Meeting
GA Chapter, American Chestnut Foundation
On April 13 board member Dale Higdon attended the Georgia Chapter meeting of the American Chestnut Foundation at the Atlanta History Center. Dr. Cipollini gave a report on the chestnut breeding program in Georgia citing the GPLT orchards as part of the state projects and used photos of the GPLT sites in his presentation.
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Saving the American Chestnut
The American chestnut tree once dominated the eastern half of the U.S. Because it could grow rapidly and attain huge sizes, the tree was often the outstanding visual feature in both urban and rural landscapes. It was an essential component of the entire eastern U.S. ecosystem. A late-flowering, reliable, and productive tree, unaffected by seasonal frosts, it was the single most important food source for a wide variety of wildlife from bears to birds. Rural communities depended upon the annual nut harvest as a cash crop to feed livestock. The chestnut lumber industry was a major sector of rural economies. Chestnut wood is straight-grained and easily worked, lightweight and highly rot-resistant, making it ideal for fence posts, railroad ties, barn beams and home construction, as well as for fine furniture and musical instruments.
In colonial America, chestnut was a preferred species for log cabins, especially the bottom rot-prone foundation logs. Later posts, poles, flooring, and railroad ties were all made from chestnut lumber.
The edible nut was also a significant contributor to the rural economy. Hogs and cattle were often fattened for market by allowing them to forage in chestnut-dominated forests. Chestnut ripening coincided with the Thanksgiving-Christmas holiday season, and turn-of-the-century newspaper articles often showed train cars overflowing with chestnuts rolling into major cities to be sold fresh or roasted. The American chestnut was truly a heritage tree.
Benefits of restoring the American Chestnut:
- Healthy Forests - It will improve our forests and increase biodiversity.
- Restoring an American Legacy - Referred to as the “cradle-to-grave” tree for its variety of uses, it was an important food source and cash crop for the people of Appalachia.
- Superior Wildlife Food - A single American chestnut tree produces abundant and highly nutritious food for wildlife year after year.
- Reclamation - Its fast growth and tolerance of rocky, acidic, and poor soils makes it perfect for returning degraded landscapes, such as those left by surface mining, to diverse and healthy forests.
- Road Map for the Future - American chestnut research creates a template for restoration of other species across the world.
- Outstanding Timber - The lumber is straight, strong and rot-resistant.
- Craftsmanship - A light, durable wood with lovely color and attractive grain appreciated for furniture and architectural elements.
- Cuisine - The seed is smaller and sweeter than other chestnuts. It is often preferred for cooking and roasting because of its superior flavor.
- Landscaping - The American chestnut spreads its branches wide as a shade tree and produces large, white flowers before its abundant fruit production.
- Conservation - Restoring the American chestnut will be a conservation achievement of historic proportions, turning around what is considered to be one of the worst ecological disasters of the 20th century
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Protecting important lands is all we do. But we cannot do it without you. Please support our mission with a donation today.
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Photos taken at at 2 different GPLT protected properties.
Top: Eastern Comma Butterfly.
Bottom: Crane-fly orchid.
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Photos Courtesy of Hank Ohme, Carol Hassell & Dale Higdon
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