In addition to helping locate and identify new flowering chestnuts, this is the time of year when the GA Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation begins to identify and assist stewardship groups for the various potential mother/father trees that have been brought to our attention. 

Tree stewardship groups could/should/might do any of the tasks listed below.

1) Release and fertilization work.  Early Spring.
2) Spotting/watching for flower development. May - June.
3) Collecting and drying pollen. Late May to mid/late June (earlier in S. GA, later in N. GA and at higher elevations).
4) Traveling to Meadowview to assist with pollination work there.  Mid- to Late- June. (FATHER TREE APPROACH)
5) Arranging to get up into flowering GA trees to conduct hand pollinations.  Early June to early July (earlier in S. GA, later in N. GA). (MOTHER TREE APPROACH)
6) Spotting/watching for nut maturation so harvest can be made before the squirrels get to the crop.  Late Sept. - Oct.
7) Arranging to get up into trees to harvest nuts in the fall. Oct.
8) Storing nuts and sending them to orchard sites. Winter.
9) Relaying all relevant activities and data to Dr. Cipollini for record keeping purposes.

The list below summarizes the sets of actually or potentially flowering trees that we already know about.

GAHAR 1 (Klaus tree) and other Harris Co. trees (including the Paschal Oak Mountain tree)
GAWAL1 (Meyer tree) and other Walker Co. trees
GAUNI3 (Brasstown Bald) and other Union Co. (Brasstown Bald) trees
GALUM1 (Fowler tree) and other Lumpkin Co. (Springer Mountain) trees
GAMUR1 (Fort Mountain tree) - any Murray Co. trees
GARAB1 (Rabun Co.) - any Rabun Co. trees
GAUPS1 (Sprewell Bluff) - any Sprewell Bluff trees
???? - Any other trees that might be located between now and pollination time.

Each stewardship group would consist of a leader and several helpers.  As coordinators of the breeding program, the GATACF intern (Will Watkins) and Martin Cipollini can help provide necessary materials and assist with training and education.  If you would like to volunteer for one or more of the stewardship groups, please let me know.