Once there were over four billion American chestnut trees in the United States. One out of every four trees in the Appalachian forests was a chestnut. American chestnut trees thrived and matured as the dominant species, towering over their neighbors. One tree near Waynesville was over 53 feet in circumference.

Foresters called the American Chestnut “the most useful tree in the woods” because it provided abundant food for people, wild animals and livestock, a cash crop for mountain farmers, fine wood for furniture and rot-resistant lumber.

In 1904, the chestnut blight disease was identified and began to spread quickly — by the 1930´s, almost all the mature chestnut trees in the Carolinas were dying back to their roots. Thanks to soil organisms, however, many of the roots remain alive, sending up small sprouts that constantly die back from the blight even today.

Now, with an approach called backcross breeding, the American Chestnut Foundation is working to revive this great King of the Forest. Within a decade, they expect to have blight-resistant trees ready for testing in North and South Carolina. It is the hope and expectation that the American chestnut will resume its place as a significant species in our forests.

The film tells the story of this magnificent tree and how it is on its way to restoration.

The program will take place at 6:30 p.m. at Cowee School Arts & Heritage Center in Franklin.