Saturday, January 25, 2003

Planning Workshop for Tennessee Chapter - TACF

Location: Wesley Center of Tennessee Tech at Cookeville, TN.

Seventeen members of the the Tennessee Chapter held a planning meeting on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2003, at the Wesley Foundation in Cookeville, TN.

The purpose of this meeting will be to make plans, and to set goals and agendas for the Tennessee Chapter for the next couple of years or so. We'll discuss:

Clint Neel, senior at Tenn. Tech, gave a presentation about the location of surviving American chestnuts in Middle
Tennessee and the chapter breeding program.

Hill Craddock, Assoc. Prof. of Biology at the Univ. of Tennessee Chattanooga, introduced his students Mark and John Alexander and talked about the Chattanooga Chestnut Tree Project as well as pollination procedures and hypovirulence. He will host the annual meeting of the chapter in late May or early June, which will include a pollination workshop.

Bill Turner, Chapter Treasurer, talked about the chapter organization. John and Lynn Oliver are taking on responsibility for the chapter newsletter, and Michael Doochin will talk to his son Jeremy about keeping a database of folks who want to be interviewed for the chapter oral history project. Hill Craddock will be coordinator for the chapter breeding program, and Paul Sisco will the point person for chestnut species identification.

Joe Schibig, Professor of Biology at Volunteer State Community College, and Dan Combs, Professor of Wildlife Biology at Tenn. Tech, are getting their students involved in hunting surviving chestnut trees and finding land to plant orchards.

Several other members present expressed interest in planting chestnuts on their land or in helping in the tree search and pollination program.

Paul mentioned that their may be funds available from a National Forest Foundation grant to pay for students interns, polllination supplies, travel, and equipment for the chapter breeding program. We'll know for sure about the grant sometime in April.

Clint finished by inviting everyone to the nut grafting workshop to be held in the same place on Sunday, Feb. 9, from 1 to 3 p.m.