On 5/4/24 8 AYLUS members went to Bethpage park, known for its world-class golf courses and beautiful scenery, to do something very special: planting American chestnut trees.
Before the 1900’s, chestnut trees were everywhere–there were about 3 to 4 billion American chestnut trees in forests ranging from New York to Georgia. However, in 1904, a foreign fungus called the chestnut blight was introduced in America, and it caused the deaths of basically all of the chestnut trees. But recently, chestnut trees have been making a comeback. Through genetic modifications, an American chestnut tree that had a gene that could enable it to combat the blight was made. And we were lucky to be a part of planting what could be the first generation of American chestnut trees.
Along with other volunteers,, we planted the saplings, hammered posts, fenced posts, and cleared away invasive shrubs for two hours. We were also told the history of the American chestnut tree by Nick, a co-head of the National Chestnut Foundation, New York branch.
Through our efforts, we made way for part of the first generation of American chestnut trees since the 1900’s.
Report by: Kevin Li
Volunteers: Zoe Xia, Qishen Han, Tiffany Zhang, Adena Yang, Ankie Huang, Ang Chen, Kevin Li, Andrew Qian, Derek Gao, Zhaoyu Gao (2.5 hours)
