Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Visits Arbor Day Event at Sisters of St. Francis Motherhouse

Morgantown, WVa—US Department of Agriculture Under Secretary Mark Rey will attend an Arbor Day event in Sylvania, Ohio, on Friday. The Sisters of St. Francis Motherhouse will host the event at their convent.

The Arbor Day event includes a welcome by the Sisters of St. Francis Motherhouse, a discussion of federal involvement in emerald ash borer containment and eradication by Congresswoman Kaptur, presentation of an Arbor Day message and actions relating to emerald ash borer by Ohio Division of Forestry Chief John Dorka, and a tree planting ceremony lead by Congresswoman Kaptur and Sister Jeremias Stinson.

Rey will present two American chestnut trees to the Sisters of St Francis Motherhouse in recognition of Arbor Day. Once the dominant species and widely known as the “redwood of the east,” in its heyday, the chestnut tree ranged over 200 million acres of eastern woodlands from Maine to Florida, and from the Piedmont west to the Ohio Valley. The American chestnut tree was nearly wiped out by chestnut blight, another invasive forest pest that was introduced into the United States in the early 1900’s. After years of research, the American Chestnut Foundation has produced a strain of American chestnut that is resistant to chestnut blight.

Rey’s planting of this disease resistant American chestnut ushers in the revival of the American chestnut to its rightful place in the eastern hardwood forest of the United States. This American chestnut provides a living tribute to the role scientific research plays in solving threats to our native forests.

The Ohio Division of Forestry will distribute 500 white pine and 200 pin oak seedlings to those attending. They will also have displays and handouts on emerald ash borer and reforestation efforts.

As Under Secretary of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Rey oversees the Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service. Rey is a native of Canton, Ohio and holds three degrees in natural resources from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

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