In June, 14 volunteers helped plant ten American chestnut seedlings at Mayberry Hill in Casco, three at Hacker’s Hill in Casco, and six at Crooked River Forest in Harrison. There are now 30 American chestnut trees planted across LELT properties, including seven at Peabody-Fitch Woods in Bridgton. Over the course of the next year, volunteers will continue to help water and monitor the seedlings. Thank you to all the volunteers for their time, energy, and enthusiasm in support of this project!

The trees were planted as part of “Chestnuts Across Maine”, a project of the Maine Chapter of The American Chestnut Foundation. The main goals of the project are to:

1. Preserve the genetic diversity of Maine’s existing Chestnut trees.

2. Establish publicly accessible groves of trees so that everyone can ‘meet’ an American chestnut tree.

3. Engage and educate communities about chestnut trees.

4. Support the development of future blight resistant trees.

5. Build an intergenerational community of people who know how to grow and care for chestnut trees.

If you’re interested in being involved in American chestnut restoration efforts in the Lake Region, sign up here: https://forms.gle/Z8ahWnH13omVVmqN8.

More information on the project: LELT.org/cam