Chestnut Blight At Audubon Society Meeting

SOUTHBURY — The Lillinonah Audubon Society will hold a general meeting on Thursday, March 23, at the parish house of the South Britain Congregational Church on the corner of East Flat Hill Road and Route 172, South Britain.

The social program begins at 7:30 pm followed by the meeting and program. The public is welcome and there is no charge.

Sandra Anagnostkis, a research scientist at the Agricultural Experimental Station in New Haven, will give an informal talk about the chestnut blight in Connecticut. She has been working on the problem for 32 years and has done research in the United States and in France and Italy.

It was not many generations ago that the American chestnut was one of the most dominant and valuable trees in the Eastern forests. The mature tree grew to 5 feet in diameter and was often over 100 feet tall, a haven for wildlife and an important source of timber. The blight struck in the early part of the last century, the result of an Asian organism. It spread quickly and virtually destroyed the species.

Recent advances in genetics have shown a new path to restoring the American Chestnut. Dr Anagnostkis will discuss the history of the blight and the latest efforts to reestablish this important American resource.