Virginia Department
of Forestry

Conservation and restoration of rare or at-risk species is a high-priority for Virginia Department of Forestry. American chestnut was nearly eliminated from our forests over a hundred years ago by an imported fungus. Longleaf pine has declined across its range but in Virginia specifically it has been reduced to a population of just a few hundred remaining mature native trees. And shortleaf pine has declined in occurrence nearly 10-fold in less than a century. VDOF conducts research to help reverse these trends. We continue to work in collaboration with the American Chestnut Foundation, Longleaf Alliance, and Shortleaf Initiative on these complex projects.

What Have We Learned

After 40 years of breeding and selection for blight resistance and American chestnut traits, our hybrid chestnut orchards are producing trees that withstand the disease, and we are working with the American Chestnut Foundation to learn the genetic basis for resistance. Our longleaf pine conservation and restoration efforts have enabled us to preserve grafted duplicates of many of our remaining native trees in an orchard that now produces seedlings for restoration efforts in the Commonwealth. And our shortleaf pine work has guided our efforts to successfully re-plant this long-ignored species on the sites where it will be able to thrive.

Ongoing Projects

Our ongoing studies include breeding for blight resistance and identifying re-establishment methods for American chestnut, geographic seed sources and optimum planting densities for longleaf pine, and establishment methods and planting spacing for shortleaf. In addition, our work supports breeding and seed production orchards for all three species.

Additional Resources

A variety of financial assistance programs are available through VDOF and partner agencies for forest management activities.

Explore All Financial Assistance Programs

Contact Us

For more information or questions, e-mail us or use our contact form.