Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 9

AMERICAN beech, below left, and the American elm, right, are just two trees that are following along the demise of the American chestnut because of non-native insects that threaten our forests and all they provide us.

canker forms. If the number of cankers increases over the years, the tree dies. Beech scale from insects can be seen on the trunk and limbs of infected trees as woolly, white tufts that later appear as broad strips. Even though many mature beech trees are gone in parts of Pennsylvania, scientists feel the species will probably survive because some are resistant to the scale insect, and these will produce seed that, in turn, will produce fewer disease susceptible trees in the future. After looking at the beeches I realized many other organisms are poised to do serious destruction to our forests, and I began wondering what would be left if all the invasive insects and diseases attacking other tree species ran their course. It was a disturbing notion. To get to my hunting spots I often drive along Chestnut Ridge Road, but there hasn’t been a chestnut tree anywhere on that ridge in almost a century. At the beginning of the 20th century, countless chestnut trees flourished throughout the eastern, southern and midwestern forests. These magnificent trees grew to more than 100 feet, with trunks more than 10 feet in diameter. Every year their snow white, pleasingly scented blossoms covered the hills, while in the fall the sweet nuts they produced were eagerly sought by both man and wildlife. Livestock foraging in the chestnut dominated forests grew fat, while farm families considered chestnuts a cash crop, gathering bushels of them to sell at markets. Because chestnut trees flowered long after the last frost, they were a more consistent and dependable mast producer than oaks. The wood of the chestnut was easy to split, resistant to decay and did not
MAY	 2012	

USDAFS Joseph O’Brien

warp or shrink, so it was used for making dozens of wood products. Around 1904 a blight was discovered in a New York zoological garden, and it spread rapidly from there. It’s estimated that this disease killed more than four billion chestnut trees, quickly reducing the American chestnut from its position as the dominant tree species in the eastern forest to little more than an early-successionstage shrub. Despite this dire history, the American chestnut is not extinct, as sprouts still spring up from remaining stumps. These sprouts grow for a few years, but inevitably they, too, succumb to the blight and die. Scientists, however, feel these sprouts are a rich gene pool for finding a disease resistant strain for ultimate reforestation. Today, thanks largely to the American Chestnut Foundation, work is being done to develop strains of an American chestnut with full levels of blight resistance derived from the genes of an Asian chestnut that is immune to the blight. Although American chestnut trees may never again be seen in the numbers they once were, it’s comforting to know that American chestnut trees may once again grow in our forests, and that if not our grandchildren, then our great grandchildren may once again enjoy a Thanksgiving dinner
9



Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012

Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012
History of the Whitetail
26 Days for a Gobbler
I Took a Stand
Enemies Among Us
The Smile Says It All
Wild Turkey Trivia
Wild Turkey Cures A Heartache
First VPA-HIP Habitat Project Nears Completion
Field Notes
Conservation News
Off the Wire
Another View
The Naturalist’s Eye
Fun Game
Straight from the Bowstring
Lock, Stock & Barrel
Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Cover2
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - History of the Whitetail
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 2
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 26 Days for a Gobbler
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 4
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 5
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - I Took a Stand
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 7
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Enemies Among Us
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 9
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 10
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 11
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 12
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 13
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 14
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 15
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - The Smile Says It All
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 17
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 18
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 19
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Wild Turkey Trivia
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 21
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 22
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 23
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Wild Turkey Cures A Heartache
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 25
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 26
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 27
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 28
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 29
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - First VPA-HIP Habitat Project Nears Completion
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 31
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Field Notes
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 33
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 34
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 35
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 36
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Conservation News
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 38
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 39
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 40
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 41
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 42
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 43
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 44
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 45
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 46
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Off the Wire
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Another View
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 49
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 50
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - The Naturalist’s Eye
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 52
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 53
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Fun Game
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Straight from the Bowstring
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 56
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 57
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 58
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 59
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Lock, Stock & Barrel
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 61
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 62
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - 63
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Crossings
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - BB1
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - BB2
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Cover3
Pennsylvania Game News - May 2012 - Cover4
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