Alfred Joyce Kilmer and His Memorial Forest

An American chestnut blight fungus hit the future Joyce Kilmer Forest during the early twentieth century. Native American chestnuts that once dominated the eastern hardwood forests were a main component of the Joyce Kilmer. Those burly trees that grew to heights in excess of 100 feet and diameters of six to eight feet are all gone now.

I found a remnant of the American chestnut in the form of a chestnut sprout. This small whip of a tree is all that is left to remind us of those massive giants that grew alongside the big tulip poplars for centuries.

An American Chestnut Comeback

A Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest Photo Gallery