Media cover official measurement of North America’s tallest chestnut tree
The Portland Press Herald, Sun Journal, Maine Public Broadcasting Network and WMTW (Channel 8 in Portland) reported on the official measurement of what is believed to be the tallest American chestnut tree in North America. University of Maine researchers found the 115-foot-tall tree in Lovell, Maine last summer during a flyover looking for signs of big trees. Brian Roth, associate director of the Cooperative Forestry Research Unit (CFRU) at UMaine, several other scientists, forestry officials and members of the American Chestnut Foundation returned to the tree Wednesday to take measurements and make official what was suspected this summer, according to the Press Herald article. The tree is second only to the tallest known specimen in the world, a 121-footer in an arboretum in Belgium, the article states. “If this keeps growing, it will surpass that,” Roth said. The tree’s discovery is significant, as the species has been ravaged by an invasive blight. Scientists estimate there were 4 billion American chestnut trees in 1900, and now, Roth figures there are only about 200 left in Maine — and 50 of those have been transplanted in an effort to restore the species, the article states.