Before 1910, the American chestnut was one of the most common trees in the eastern United States. The natural distribution of the American chestnut extended across more than 400,000 square miles of territory, contributing to the American chestnut becoming an integral part of American environmental and cultural history. But then a blight fungus introduced during the late nineteenth century rendered the tree “functionally extinct.” Although its eradication caused one of the greatest ecological catastrophes since the last ice age, sentiment towards the iconic species continued unabated. Over the last several decades, considerable effort has been expended to try to restore this iconic species to the forest, but not without controversy.