Ectomycorrhizal fungi forming symbiotic association with the American chestnut

Because of the ever-increasing demand for wood and other forest products and increased restrictive regulations for harvesting trees from public land, commercial farming of forest trees is becoming a necessity. For this, it will be essential to exploit all the available commercial land, whether or not it is ideal for optimal growth of forest tree species. In addition, past use of forest lands for mining and farming have produced vast regions unsuitable for natural reforestation. In southeastern Ohio alone, there are more than 600,000 acres of land that had been subjected to mining, which are now under reclamation program. Nearly 50,000 acres have soil that has a low pH.