Oconee farmer laments loss of the chestnut

Clemson University graduate instructor Adam Coates and a boisterous class of forestry students recently visited a sprawling Upstate farm to learn about the latest scientific findings on the restoration of the American chestnut in southern climes.  Led by Dr. Joe James of Chestnut Return Farm in Oconee County, Coates and his students tromped from place to place on well-trodden trails, stopping at several experimental sites to listen to James discuss his research, which is performed in conjunction with several scientists at Clemson. When James told the tragic tale of the demise of billions of chestnut trees, the students grew less rambunctious and more pensive. “I’m often asked why I feel so passionate about the American chestnut tree,” said James, who has been working with Clemson professor Steven Jeffers, an Extension specialist in plant pathology, since the early 2000s. “There are obvious reasons, of course. The trees were huge, beautiful and extremely useful to those who lived within their range. But to me, the main reason is that the demise of the chestnut left a big hole in our ecological food chain. Just about every animal ate chestnuts, including humans. I can’t overestimate the damage caused by the loss of this invaluable food source.” At the beginning of the 20th century, a fungus-like organism that became known as chestnut blight began an airborne march from Maine to Florida, killing an estimated four billion chestnut trees. By the 1940s, the final remnants of the towering behemoths collapsed beneath the weight of the assault. In the decades since, the blight has become widely studied and discussed.