The first Chestnuts were planted in the Wildlands in 2012, by volunteers and staff. Some of them are now 20 feet tall. By later in this century, they will tower over the Wildlands. As of 2025, chestnut plantings have continued and there are now more than 500 trees. They are a mix trees, some from parents that showed some resistance to the blight and some that have been crossed with other species of chestnuts and then back – crossed with American chestnuts several times to decrease the other species DNA.
For more information about the great American Chestnut Tree, the blight that wiped it out, and the efforts to restore it to the forests of America, click here for the American Chestnut Foundation: http://www.acf.org/