Thank you to everyone who entered submissions for our "Name the Newsletter Contest" last month. The winning name, eSprout, was submitted by Chad Gadsby of Dushore, PA. Congrats, Chad!

A common misconception is that the native American chestnut is endangered, or even extinct. In actuality, neither is the case, as many of you who go hiking on the ridges of the Appalachian Mountains may have noticed. In fact, there are an estimated 464 million American chestnut trees still alive in the eastern United States. Read more to find out why it's so important to conserve pure American chestnut genes. 

In 2013,The Dryad: An Appalachian Tale was a hands-down favorite play featured at Barter's Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights. This March the play will debut on stage at the Barter Theatre, in Abingdon, Virginia. The play is based on the legend and folklore of a mythical "dryad" during the time of the Great Depression and Appalachia's loss of the American chestnut tree. Read Doug Levin's interview with The Dryad's playwright, Carol Wright Krauss.

Earlier this year, TACF staff members at our National Office were thrilled to be recipients of a beautiful piece of artwork. The framed print, titled Still Life with Apples and Chestnuts by John F. Francis, was graciously donated to TACF by the MA/RI Chapter. It was presented as an "office-warming" gift for the new Asheville office we will be moving into this spring. Read the article. 

We invite you to check out the newly posted proceedings from the 2012 American Chestnut Summit in Asheville, NC. The Summit brought together scientists, private landowners, conservationists, outdoor enthusiasts, and industry professionals to share the current state of knowledge of the American chestnut, and inspire reintroduction of this species to eastern forests.