The U.S. Forestry Service invited our crews to tag along today, as they worked with volunteers to plant seedlings in a secret spot.
Way deep in Craig County, about a dozen
volunteers worked through a biting wind, as they planted small American chestnut seedlings.
We were allowed to shoot the story, so long as we didn't reveal where the trees were being put in the ground. In the past, Forestry officials say, people have stolen the seedlings.
The American chestnut was almost completely wiped out more than a hundred ago, thanks to a virus. These hybrid seedlings, we're told, grow very fast.
"You will have some mortality, some of the trees won't make it. But alot of them will and chestnuts grow incredibly fast. Some of them in 3 to 5 years, some of these trees will start to produce nuts."
The seedlings planted today were dormant, so the chances are good, they can survive the coming winter.
Way deep in Craig County, about a dozen
volunteers worked through a biting wind, as they planted small American chestnut seedlings.
We were allowed to shoot the story, so long as we didn't reveal where the trees were being put in the ground. In the past, Forestry officials say, people have stolen the seedlings.
The American chestnut was almost completely wiped out more than a hundred ago, thanks to a virus. These hybrid seedlings, we're told, grow very fast.
"You will have some mortality, some of the trees won't make it. But alot of them will and chestnuts grow incredibly fast. Some of them in 3 to 5 years, some of these trees will start to produce nuts."
The seedlings planted today were dormant, so the chances are good, they can survive the coming winter.
