UMaine researchers discover tallest chestnut tree in North America, media report
The Associated Press, Bangor Daily News, Sun Journal, Maine Public Broadcasting Network and Portland Press Herald reported foresters with the University of Maine and Maine Forest Service have measured what is believed to be the tallest American chestnut tree in North America, exceeding the height of the next-tallest known tree by 20 feet. The 115-foot-tall tree is growing in Lovell, Maine on land bequeathed to the University of Maine Foundation. UMaine researchers found the tree last summer during a flyover looking for signs of big trees, according to the BDN article. Brian Roth of UMaine’s School of Forest Resources said researchers spotted the white flowers that emerge in the canopies of chestnut trees around July. They marked the chestnut’s coordinates and went back on the ground with members of the UMaine Geographic Information System and Mapping Club to find the tree and take unofficial measurements, the article states. The tree’s discovery is significant, as the species has been ravaged by an invasive blight. It is estimated that there are only a few dozen large surviving trees. On Wednesday, officials from the American Chestnut Foundation, Maine Forest Service, UMaine and other groups will travel to the tree to take official measurements, the BDN reports. ABC News, Star Tribune and San Francisco Chronicle carried the AP report, and NPR carried the MPBN report.