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The
Carter Center is the home of an American chestnut tree demonstration
site dedicated by former U.S. President Jimmy Carter on Sept. 21,
2005. The demonstration site, donated by the American Chestnut
Foundation, features a backcross breeding program for strengthening
the American chestnut against disease. The Foundation includes Carter
Center co-founder Jimmy Carter and Center agriculture expert Dr.
Norman Borlaug as honorary board members.
“The
Carter Center is a wonderful place for us to be represented,” said
Philip Pritchard, director of development for the American Chestnut
Foundation. “So much of what the Center is doing revolves around
creating a healthier planet. This project fits right in.” |
Marshal Case (r) Opens Dedication Ceremony |
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The
Carter Center site demonstrates the success of the backcross breeding
program, intended to build blight-resistance in the American chestnut
tree. The program will breed five generations, or “backcrosses,” of
Chinese and American chestnut trees. The final tree will be comprised
of fifteen-sixteenths American chestnut with the resistance of the
original Chinese parent.
With
its wide trunks and heights that stretched to 100 feet in the Eastern
forests, the American chestnut was favored by wildlife and rural
families alike throughout the 1800s and early 1900s for its
nutritious nuts, an important cash crop for many Appalachian
communities. As a straight hardwood lighter than oak and virtually
rot resistant, chestnut timber was used for everything from railroad
ties to musical instruments. A foreign fungus imported in 1904
devastated the tree, and by 1950, the king of the forest was nearly
destroyed by the chestnut blight.
“As
the then-new executive director of a small struggling nonprofit with
a far-reaching vision, I was astounded to discover President Carter
was so powerfully supportive of being personally involved in moving
the chestnut mission forward,” said Marshal Case, president of the
American Chestnut Foundation. |
(l-r) Jimmy Carter, Ga Chapter President Mark
Stallings and
Marshal Case, TACF CEO
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President Carter and Marshal Case unveil plaque that
tells the American Chestnut Story at the demonstration site |
