Introduction American chestnut (Castanea dentata (Marsh.) Borkh. once occurred over much of the eastern deciduous forests of North America (Russell, 1987), with a natural range exceeding 800,000 km (Braun, 1950) (Figure 1). Castanea dentata was a dominant tree species throughout much of its range, comprising between 25-50% of the canopy (Braun, 1950; Foster et al., 2002; Russell, 1987; Stephens...