> Many baby boomers are too young to remember the "Redwood of the East," but the American chestnut once dominated the Eastern forest. One out of every four trees within the 200 million-acre forest that stretched from Maine to Florida and west to Ohio was a chestnut. Chestnut was so visible in the forest that during summer when the tree flowered, the Appalachians appeared snow covered. The tree earned its nickname because it grew to redwood-like proportions, sprouted readily after being cut, and its wood resisted rot.

Damn that would have been beautiful. And think of how many animals all those chestnuts could have supported? How the fuck did we lose them all? Just that one tree being gone would have devastated the ecology of the USA.