On Saturday, October 25, nearly 30 Hocking College students and faculty from the Forestry and Wildlife Clubs volunteered to help plant American chestnut trees.

These Hocking College volunteers worked in cooperation with the Wayne National Forest, the American Chestnut Foundation and National Wild Turkey Federation. Volunteers assisted in planting the most advanced generation of potentially blight resistant American chestnut trees in the world - right here in Athens County. More than 700 seedlings were planted on the Wayne National Forest, and will be monitored in future years by partner agencies to determine their resistance to the blight.

The chestnut blight pathogen was accidentally introduced from Asia in the early 1900's and in a relatively short period of time (less than 50 years) moved through the eastern hardwood forests and killed an estimated four billion American chestnut trees. Hopefully, through joint cooperation on projects such as this, one day this stately tree will be returned to its former glory and once again play a vital role in the functioning of our forested ecosystems.