GMO Chestnut Trees And Cherokee History This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear about an initiative to bring back American Chestnut trees through genetic modification. Also, in this show, we hear an interview with new author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, whose book explores a piece of little-known World War II history in Asheville, North Carolina.

Early, in-person voting in West Virginia begins Oct. 21. As Dave Mistich reports, the opening of physical polling places comes as tens of thousands of voters in the state have already returned absentee ballots.

The iconic American Chestnut largely disappeared from eastern forests, after a blight took down some four billion of these giants a century ago. Now researchers are moving forward with a genetically engineered tree that allows chestnuts to survive the blight. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant has the story.

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina and is now the first member of the tribe to write a novel. Her new book, “Even As We Breathe,” looks at a peculiar piece of history, when foreign diplomats from the World War II Axis Powers were held in the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina in the summer of 1942. Clapsaddle spoke with Eric Douglas about why she thinks it’s important to examine this poorly understood time in North Carolina’s history.

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