BELOW, is the letter from the President of the New York Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation (now renamed) to their constituents asking them to comment in support of the reckless deregulation of the D54, which they claim would be a major victory for the American chestnut. In reality, its release into forests would directly threaten remaining wild American chestnuts with contamination from the pollen and seeds of these defective trees. He neglects to mention the role of American Castenea, the FOR-PROFIT company that is teaming up with researchers to do AI-assisted mass-cloning of the D54 GE chestnut in order to sell and distribute 1 MILLION per year.
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Update on Darling 54 and Darwin lines
[from American Chestnut Restoration, Inc. - formerly the NY Chapter of the American Chestnut Foundation]
The US Department of Agriculture Animal & Plant Health Inspection Service (USDA APHIS) has just completed a rigorous multi-year review of the Darling 54 (D54) blight-tolerant American chestnut trees and has determined it is unlikely to pose a plant pest or environmental impact risk. This favorable consideration to grant D54 “nonregulated” status by USDA APHIS represents a major milestone toward restoring this iconic species to its native range in eastern U.S. forests.
With nonregulated status and pending approvals from two additional U.S. regulatory agencies, Darling 54 and its offspring could be distributed and planted like wild-type or traditionally bred chestnut trees.
This favorable USDA APHIS review is the direct result of a revised 322-page D54 Petition submitted by the American Chestnut Research and Restoration Project at the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF). The entire D54 application process has been a major scientific undertaking, made possible by 35 years of pioneering research and the development of cutting-edge biological technology by ESF. The enormity of this accomplishment in species conservation is unprecedented. Furthermore, approval of D54 will directly facilitate future reviews of new varieties such as DarWin and others. From the beginning, our non-profit organization, now known as American Chestnut Restoration, Inc., has consistently supported ESF in this monumental effort.
In what amounts to the final major step in their review process, USDA APHIS has opened a public comment period on the Federal Register regarding the ESF Petition (with revised Environmental Impact Statement and Plant Pest Risk Assessment documents). This comment period gives any interested member of the public an opportunity to go on record. USDA APHIS is very interested in comments from scientists, but the rest of us can still comment to share why we support the ESF petition, their research, and the D54 trees. If you have planted and cared for wild-type American chestnut trees and are waiting for the D54 tree to support pollination and restoration, please include that in your comment. If you have done any other volunteer work on behalf of the American chestnut, please write about that. If you are a member of American Chestnut Restoration, Inc., please mention that as well. The deadline for submitting your comment is July 21st.
To submit your comment, visit https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/06/06/2025-10226/state-university-of-new-york-college-of-environmental-science-and-forestry-availability-of-a-revised#open-comment. You may read the comments that have been submitted here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/APHIS-2020-0030-17582/comment.
You may already know that American Chestnut Restoration (ACR) is the new name for the original, all volunteer, non-profit organization that has supported the ESF American Chestnut Project since its beginning in 1988. We have members in 33 states and Canada. If you are not already a member, now is a great time to join! The link to American Chestnut Restoration is https://www.americanchestnut.org/.
Please see the American Chestnut Fact Sheet from ESF for a helpful overview of the American chestnut story. Also see the Spring issue of our ACR newsletter, The BUR.
Thank you for your continued support.
Sincerely,
Allen Nichols
President, American Chestnut Restoration, Inc.
[END QUOTE]
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Your help is needed to prevent irreversible ecological consequences. Comments are welcomed from all countries—your voice matters.
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