ABINGDON, Va. -- Where only stumps stand as reminders of the American chestnut’s past glory in eastern U.S. hardwood forests, American Electric Power has agreed to help restore the “King of Trees.”

Among other efforts, AEP has agreed to make its lands available for the planting and care of chestnut seedlings as part of a promising effort to revive the American chestnut that was wiped out by blight during the first half of the 20th century.

AEP has signed a Forest Management Partnership Agreement with The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF), which operates two research and seedling production farms in nearby Meadowview, Va. The signing took place Oct. 21 at TACF’s annual meeting here. “Both parties agree that re-establishing this once flourishing native species will benefit the productivity and biodiversity of the forest for future generations,” the agreement reads.

“The foundation’s genetic research has brought it very close to its goal of producing a blight-resistant tree that can be planted in forests,” said Dan Carson, AEP president – Va.-Tenn. “Seedlings planted on AEP’s land will increase the number of trees available eventually for transplanting.

“Our agreement calls for annual development projects, plantings and possible nursery sites on lands that AEP manages. Forming a partnership with the foundation makes sense for us,” he said. “Much of AEP’s service territory was home to the chestnut before blight took its toll.”

AEP has a long record of land management and reclamation that includes tree farms and forest cultivation. “Since the 1940s AEP has planted more than 53 million trees on land the company owns,” said Gary Kaster, AEP supervisor of forestry and recreation programs.

AEP’s tree-planting total includes 15 million trees planted on 20,000 acres of company land during 1996-2000 as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Climate Challenge program. These trees capture carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, thereby reducing the potential for global climate change.

In April 2000 AEP launched a three-year effort in Ohio to plant five million additional trees, one for each school child in Ohio. This is part of Gov. Bob Taft’s Bicentennial Legacy Tree Planting Program.

In the Latin American countries of Bolivia and Brazil, AEP is involved in cooperative projects to protect and restore millions of acres of tropical rain forest. AEP’s web site http://www.aep.com/environmental describes these projects in detail.