Asheville Library Helps Reintroduce Extinct American Chestnut

Buncombe County -- Buncombe County Government Community News November 15, 2021

The American Chestnut Foundation recently partnered with the East Asheville Library to help the organization reintroduce the functionally extinct American Chestnut back into the wild. Once one of the most common trees on the eastern coast of the United States, the American Chestnut was all but wiped out over 50 years ago due to an aggressive fungus infestation. 

Now, with more blight-resistant hybrid trees in their arsenal, the American Chestnut Foundation hopes to reintroduce this species back to its original glory.

So the next time you stop by the East Asheville Library, check out the five new hybrid seedlings hoping to make a forever home in our community. Click here to learn more about the American Chestnut Foundation.