Chestnut Care Team Volunteer Event // 7.13.24

Join FOPOS’s Chestnut Care Team! Together, a team of FOPOS land stewards will help preserve the Mountain Lakes American Chestnut Tree population, a species currently threatened by the non-native chestnut blight fungus.

What: The Chestnut Care Team is a group of FOPOS volunteers focused on the Mountain Lakes American Chestnut population. During this series, we’ll learn more about this once-populous tree that produces the delicious nuts that many of us enjoy in the fall.

How: Join us for a chestnut-focused volunteer session! This session will focus on recovering the American Chestnut Leaf Sculpture created by local ecological artist Susan Hoenig. The sculpture has become overgrown, and we’ll get a chance to free it from invasive weeds and mulch the area while nurturing native plants located within the plot.

Throughout these sessions, we will monitor the health of the local chestnut trees, learn how to ID the presence of blight, and help prevent the spread of blight. With your help, we can help preserve this American treasure for future generations! American chestnuts flower in mid June through July, so we will also monitor for blooms and potentially assist with pollination.The planted chestnuts are also part of a restoration project and are located within the deer enclosure of the 18-acre forest restoration project site at the Billy Johnson Mountain Lakes Nature Preserve.

What to Bring: Be sure to bring a water bottle and work gloves (if you have them). We recommend wearing long sleeves, long pants, and work boots/sneakers--this will best protect you from thorns, ticks, and poison ivy.

Host or Publisher Friends of Princeton Open Space