[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 33 (Tuesday, March 1, 2016)]
[House]
[Page H1048]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       RESTORING AMERICA'S GIANTS

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
North Carolina (Ms. Foxx) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. FOXX. Mr. Speaker, today I rise to talk about a blight that 
nearly rendered the American chestnut extinct and recognize a teacher 
in Alexander County, North Carolina, who is helping to lead in the 
rebirth of these great trees.
  The American chestnut was once the dominant hardwood species in the 
Eastern United States. Prior to the European colonization of North 
America, American chestnut trees were found in vast stands from Maine 
to Florida, with the largest trees occurring in the southern 
Appalachians.
  When early European settlers arrived, the species was used in many 
different ways, including providing timber and tools. The edible nut 
was also a significant contributor to the rural economy. Families would 
collect the nuts to sell and eat, and they were also used as feed for 
livestock. Domesticated hogs and cattle were often fattened for market 
by allowing the animals to gorge themselves on these highly nutritious 
nuts.
  Chestnut ripening coincided with the Thanksgiving and Christmas 
holidays, and turn-of-the-century newspaper clippings show traincars 
rolling into major cities that were overflowing with chestnuts to be 
sold fresh or roasted. The American chestnut was truly a heritage tree.
  However, the booming trade industry introduced fungal diseases that 
would change the species composition of eastern North American forests. 
A root rot disease, thought to have caused mortality of chestnuts in 
low, moist areas infested southern populations of the American chestnut 
and constricted its natural range. This fungal disease was followed by 
the more commonly known chestnut blight, which spread throughout 
eastern hardwood forests at a rate of up to 50 miles per year.
  By the 1950s, virtually all mature American chestnut trees had 
succumbed to the disease, and this catastrophe became known as one of 
the worst ecological disasters in the United States. The American 
chestnut has been relegated to a minor understory component, existing 
as sprouts from old stumps and root systems.
  Today modern techniques are being used to bring the species back from 
near extinction, but the success of these efforts will be the result of 
decades of genetic hybridization. The American Chestnut Foundation has 
embarked on an elaborate and time-consuming breeding program to develop 
a tree that can withstand blight and exhibit virtually every 
characteristic of the American chestnut of the past. By backcrossing 
the American chestnut with the blight-resistant Chinese chestnut, the 
foundation has produced the Restoration chestnut.
  Last December The American Chestnut Foundation planted four 
Restoration chestnuts on the campus of Alexander Central High School in 
Taylorsville. Becky Dupuis, a biotech and biology teacher with 
Alexander County Schools, has partnered with the foundation to gather 
information about the health, diversity, and blight resistance of these 
trees. Her students will actively participate in collecting data, 
documenting growth rates, and transplanting American chestnut sprouts 
in Alexander County.
  Ms. Dupuis should be commended for raising awareness about the 
American chestnut and for her work to reintroduce these giants to their 
rightful place in Alexander County and America's ecosystem.

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