The Wild American Chestnut: A Giant Returns... Without Genetic Engineering – WATCH THE SHORT FILM -- This short film by our allies, Global Justice Ecology Project, documents the thousands of thriving, wild American chestnut trees on the land of renowned biologist Dr. Bernd Heinrich—contradicting decades of assumptions about the trees’ decline. The three generations of wild American chestnut trees growing on Heinrich's land, numbering in the thousands, are rewriting the story of a species once thought lost and declared "functionally extinct." Their resilience challenges the widespread claim that only genetic engineering can restore the species. Planted by blue jays and squirrels, these trees show us something far more hopeful: the wild American chestnut is already returning, naturally. “This film presents some good news about the wild American Chestnut and is a stark contrast to claims that genetically engineered trees are necessary to ...