American chestnuts were once a prominent forest canopy tree, providing both shelter and food resources. However, since the introduction of chestnut blight to American forests in the early 1900s, American chestnuts have been dying at an alarming rate. The chestnut orchard at MacLeish is part of the American Chestnut Foundation research collaborative. Chestnuts are bred to be phenotypically similar to American chestnuts and to contain blight resistance.