Month: November 2019

Virginia's Capitol Christmas Tree, 2019

Virginia’s Capitol Christmas Tree, 2019

November 27, 2019 - Each year, a live Virginia-grown tree is selected and harvested by the Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) to serve as the Christmas tree on display at Virginia’s Capitol in Richmond. The annual Christmas trees are donated from tree farmers across state; this year, the tree selected was a roughly 20-foot Colorado blue spruce, donated by Helen Braunworth and Helen’s daughter and son-in-law Cindy and Wayne Crickenberger from Friendly Forest Farm... Read More

American Chestnut Harvest at Lesesne State Forest

American Chestnut Harvest at Lesesne State Forest

November 7, 2019 - Chestnut trees have all but disappeared from the landscape; the Virginia Department of Forestry recently had a rare opportunity to harvest pure American chestnut wood. The Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) maintains a chestnut research project at Lesesne State Forest in Nelson County, VA. American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was once a common deciduous tree in many eastern North American forests and was valued for its nuts, lumber products and firewood.... Read More

Restoring Urban Canopy at the James W. Garner Building

Restoring Urban Canopy at the James W. Garner Building

November 6, 2019 - On the morning of November 4, a crew of volunteers from Charlottesville Area Tree Stewards (CATS) and a University of Virginia chapter of Alpha Phi Omega (APO) worked with several Virginia Department of Forestry (DOF) staff members to plant 16 trees on the DOF campus front lawn.     The driveway and the lawn are the first places that visitors see when arriving to the DOF James W. Garner building in... Read More