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Editor’s Note: OMP resident Tom Dalluge is devoted to saving, nurturing and growing American chestnuts on the Old Mission Peninsula. And he’s had a lot of help along the way. Read on for his story. -jb
Holly Fromm grew up on Chestnut Street. Paul Hinchcliff was a Park Service ranger along the Blue Ridge Parkway giving nightly lectures about the tragic environmental disaster that wiped out nearly all of the American chestnuts along the Appalachians. Neither had ever seen a mature American chestnut prior to visiting the Dougherty Mission House.
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The 21 trees on or adjacent to the Dougherty House are an environmental marvel protected by generations of able agricultural stewards, isolation and a miraculous fungal antidote to strains of chestnut blight. While Peter Dougherty wrongly is credited with introducing cherry trees to the peninsula, it is almost a certainty that he or an associate planted the first chestnut trees 175 years ago.
The fast-growing trees would have provided a rot resistant wood used in colonial times for barns and fences, and they were easy to work with while lightweight and sturdy. The nutritious nuts would have provided sustenance for early settlers. Their voluminous quantities would have fattened hogs, allowing corn raised to be repurposed.
When the Dougherty House opened in 2019, the adjacent chestnut trees were an afterthought, although viewing locations were established for both. Marty Klein and I gathered some nuts in the Fall of 2020 and winterized them under instructions from tree owner Steve Sobkowski. We were crestfallen in 2021 when five of 111 germinated and none grew above an inch.
We took 2021 and 2022 off and researched what we had done wrong. We made more contacts in the chestnut community. We had our trees tested, and by now, we knew of seven and verified that all were 100 percent American chestnut.
In the Fall of 2023, we gathered nuts that were actually viable and stored them for the winter. That October, the Peter Dougherty Society and Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society jointly hosted our first Crackin’ Day educational event for Old Mission Peninsula School 5th graders. The students toured the house, hiked the grounds, saw our trees, and learned about opening chestnut burs. They visited Jerry Ostlund’s Michigan state champion tree and spent time with Jerry hearing tales from his childhood growing up with the tree.
2024 found us planting 90 nuts, and in the fall, we harvested more than 400 nuts and put our first three seedlings in the ground. One survived the winter. It continues to do well this fall. The year ended ominously when we discovered three of our trees infected with chestnut blight.
Chestnut blight is our mortal enemy. We knew little about it. We spent a lot of time during the winter educating ourselves with the best advice in the country. Remediating our blight infestation was the top goal of 2025.
March 9 was a sunny 37-degree day. Perfect for making mudpacks — a poultice of dirt from near the infected tree. Blight cannot survive underground. Microbes in the soil can defeat the blight fungus. Wrapping a polyvinyl covering around a mudpack over a blight lesion is 60-70 percent effective in defeating blight.
While one tree had to be removed, two were treated with packs. When unwrapped six months later, new bark was found showing success in beating the fungus back.
Northern Michigan also has a rare distinction discovered in the 1980’s by MSU Professor Dennis Fulbright as being one of two locations where a beneficial fungus moves through the air combatting the blight. This occurs only here and in the Mediterranean.
We made a significant expert connection in March with a grower with four decades of experience and a small farm in Northport. He has helped us improve the ability of our trees to cross pollinate, which is needed for nut production, and introduced us to catch nets, a technique Jerry Ostlund’s father used decades ago.
Along the way, we have had a number of neighbors and friends pitch in to help in ways big and small. A great example was Ben MacMurray of Charlevoix who found us on a chestnut Facebook interest group. Ben had an appointment in Traverse City and decided to visit the Dougherty House on one of our workdays. He asked if he could help, and we said of course.
What we didn’t know was that Ben was one of a handful of people in the world trained on a recently approved test of blight resistance using nothing but chestnut leaves and varying levels of solution of oxalic acid, the killing agent in chestnut blight. Forty-eight hours later, Ben gave us a first data point on the resistance of our trees!
But it has been the work of many who have brought the program to life. From the mudpackers, to the dirty dozen who planted 233 seeds in April, to the numerous people and institutions who were foster parents for the young seedlings in April and May. Or those who canvassed the Dougherty property looking for more trees, those who pollen-bombed trees in July or cleared under our biggest trees in August to make the harvest easier.
A few others for special mention are Tony Kramer and Marilyn Rosi, who have tended bee hives that encourage pollination; Butch Moring, who retrofitted a utility trailer into a drying rack for wet burs; and Jeff and Rob Manigold, who mowed around one of our signature trees and provided a hops dryer for added drying capacity.
Lastly, none of this could take place without the moral and financial support of the Peter Dougherty Society and the Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society. Both expanded their mission from buildings and history to the preservation and propagation of a technically extinct species that thrives on their grounds and peninsula.
As we close 2025, we are taking stock. We have harvested more than 800 nuts and will plant between 30 to 40 seedlings, primarily on the Dougherty property this fall. We will be scanning for blight after the leaves fall and planning remediation as required. On October 17, we hosted our third annual Crackin’ Day, and in a show of appreciation to Old Mission Peninsula School, we planted two seedlings at the school on October 10.
If you think this is worthy, join us for an activity. If you know of an American chestnut on the peninsula, please let us know. We can have your tree tested to ensure its authenticity, check its natural resistance to blight, scan it for disease or even help your tree begin to produce nuts which it cannot do on its own.
If you believe that doing what we can to save a tree that was essential to our colonial forebears, support us by joining or donating to the Peter Dougherty Society or Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society.
At a minimum, plan a visit to the Dougherty Mission House in 2026. Not only will you see where the engines driving the local economy originated; you will also get a chance to visit an American resurrection taking place in real time.
Dougherty Society and Historical Society Host 3rd Annual Crackin’ Day
Friday, October 17, dawned cool and wet at the Dougherty House in Old Mission, but brightened with the arrival of Ms. Kellogg’s 5th grade class from Old Mission Peninsula School for Crackin’ Day. The class, as well as chaperones and teachers, were greeted by Dougherty Society President Chris Reiser and chestnut authority Paul Hinchcliff.
A week before, Hinchcliff had introduced the class to the story of the American chestnut and its demise at the hands of an invasive fungus in a classroom lecture. Following this talk, the students helped plant two of the technically extinct trees on the school grounds and planned a care routine for its maintenance.
Crackin’ Day combines local history with lessons in tree identification, invasive species, genetics, apiculture, preservation and innovation, and instills a pride in the students of their peninsula’s rich culture and backstory.
During this brief field trip, the 22 classmates received a quick tour of the 1842 Dougherty Mission House, hiked the nearly mile-long nature trail while ticking off a scavenger hunt list of native trees and bushes, viewed most of the large nut-bearing chestnut trees on or adjacent to the property, and learned of innovations being used to harvest the chestnut crop.
Each student had the opportunity to open 4-5 chestnut burs and learned to determine between a nut that was able to grow into a tree and those that could not. Local beekeeper Tony Kramer explained how his hives support pollination of our food and demonstrated his gear, a bee frame and how honey is harvested.
A highlight of every Crackin’ Day is the time students spend with local resident Jerry Ostlund. Jerry owns one of the largest remaining chestnut trees in the world and offers the children a unique perspective having grown up with the tree that he now cares for in his ninth decade. But Jerry is also a living link to the Rushmore era of the Dougherty House and talked to the children about his memories of the family.
Crackin’ Day concluded with a feast of chocolate chip cookies, and each student received a bag with several of the chestnuts they had opened, along with instructions on how to care for the nuts during the winter so that they may be planted in the spring.
Crackin’ Day is co-hosted by the Peter Dougherty Society and Old Mission Peninsula Historical Society. These nonprofits combine volunteer resources with the Dougherty property holding 21 of these rare trees in one spot, along with the Historical Society expanding its mission to the preservation not just of historic buildings, but to an iconic American tree important in the creation and development of our nation. The program is supported by a group of more than 20 local volunteers who aid in the planting, pollination, care and harvest of these trees.
Old Mission Chestnut Enthusiasts Plant Seedlings
After planting more than 200 chestnut seeds in April, the Old Mission chestnut enthusiasts ended the year in late October by planting 37 pure native seedlings.
Most of the new trees were planted on the grounds of the Dougherty House property with an eye toward increasing overall nut production and improving the genetic diversity of the tree stock. These new trees will in 5 to 8 years produce blooms that generate pollen needed for nut production. By placing these new trees between our larger more mature trees, it is expected that tree fertilization rates could jump significantly.
Trees grown from nuts from a chestnut blight resistant tree in Pennsylvania were placed within the grid laid out to deepen the genetic diversity of the orchard, and new seedlings were obtained from a researcher in Charlevoix that further this objective.
Most of the new seedlings were planted on the Old Mission Peninsula, but several went to the research partner in Charlevoix, and others went to provide long-term mating partners for a standalone large chestnut unable to reproduce on its own in Lake City.
Our nut harvest this year exceeded that of our first three years combined. This has allowed us to make the seeds from these 175-180 year old trees available to hobby growers around the country.
Finally, we are preparing up to 500 nuts for planting next spring. The American chestnut fueled the growth of the American nation. Colonists relied on it for its rot resistance, ease in working, light weight, sturdiness and straight grain. It formed their houses, barns, fences, furniture and even musical instruments.
As the nation matured and pushed westward driven by innovations like trains and the telegraph, chestnut timbers were the wood of choice for railroad ties and telegraph poles because of the forementioned rot resistance and tall, straight grained poles.
All of this usage barely put a dent in the scale of its dominance of the eastern tree canopy which averaged 25 percent but was over 80 percent in some places with total estimates of between 4 to 6 billion trees. A microscopic fungal invader from Asia introduced in the late 1800’s decimated the species over 50 years, killing 99.9 percent of all chestnuts.
Because two trees are required for propagation, the species is considered technically extinct – it cannot perpetuate itself in nature.
This is what makes the preserve of 21 trees at the Dougherty House such a rich cultural treasure to protect, preserve and treasure. We believe our trees were planted by Peter Dougherty or an associate to provide food for the settlement and livestock. They have seen the complete cycle of development that has taken place in northwest Michigan. They have been cared for by able stewards for nearly 200 years.
They have also had divine intervention. Researchers discovered after WWII that Spanish, French and Italian trees had survived the chestnut blight due to a beneficial fungus that, like the lethal chestnut blight, flew through the air and landed on a tree, neutralizing the chestnut blight.
However, this fungus inexplicably lost its airborne capability when transferred to the Western Hemisphere. That is, except for one place, along the Michigan shores of Lake Michigan. This phenomenon known as hypovirulence undoubtedly has played a helpful role in the survival of our trees.
As America ponders its 250th birthday next July 4th, think about doing something truly unique, something truly American. We plan to offer a selection of our seedlings for purchase at the Old Mission “Walk Around the Block.” More details will follow, but few things could be more American than owning your own piece of American history.
– Tom Dalluge
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There’s aman over by Central Lake by the name of Will Wininger who has been growing chestnut trees. We helped him plant hundreds.
Thank you for your informative article. Thanks, and very best wishes to all who are involved in this important venture of conserving the American chestnut.
What a terrific story of history, nature, & sustainability of the American Chestnut. The tree and its following is so fragile that I hope a sustainable plan can be made to endure in future generations. THANK YOU for all you’ve done.
Are the chestnut trees in Pellizarri pure American? I seem to recall reading they are from a plaque. As of a couple years ago they were growing pretty well.