FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 29, 2025
Contact: Steve Taylor, Communications Director, Global Justice Ecology Project | +1.314210.1322 | st***@******************gy.org
170,000+ Demand USDA Reject Proposal for Release of Genetically Engineered American Chestnut Into Wild Forests
New York — A growing number of individuals—now numbering well over 170,000, as well as more than 440 organizations worldwide—have risen up to oppose the release of the defective genetically engineered American chestnut tree known as Darling 54 (D54) into wild forests. Global Justice Ecology Project (GJEP) announced today that this response was generated during the USDA’s Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service 45 day public comment period that ended on 21 July 2025 regarding the petition to deregulate the GE tree, submitted by the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (SUNY-ESF). [1]
Anne Peterman, Executive Director of GJEP has said:
“Opposition to the release of GE trees into our forests is growing in incredible ways. People are standing up to clearly reject, not just the USDA’s plan to unleash an unproven and unstable GE tree into wild forests, but also this first-ever attempt to allow a genetically engineered, sexually reproducing plant to spread in the wild where it could contaminate wild relatives. The ecological risks of this for-profit scheme are far too great and the science is fundamentally flawed.”
Petermann added
“The ethics of SUNY-ESF’s plan to collaborate with a for-profit company to make money from the sale of these defective trees to the public is also extremely troubling.”
The American Chestnut Foundation was a long-time partner with SUNY-ESF to develop the GE American chestnut, but withdrew when it became evident that the trees had serious problems. Yet according to TACF’s own website,
“Even after sharing [our] profound concerns about a SUNY-ESF exclusive license with American Castanea Inc [now SilvaBio], SUNY-ESF offered a variety of high-cost proposals to TACF, all of which continued to demonstrate their interests in using D54, a transgenic tree TACF considers unsuitable for restoration, as a means to fund their programs.” [emphasis added] [2]
Public Outcry to USDA: Reject Deregulation of the Defective Darling
Darling 54 represents a high-risk ecological intervention never tried before. GJEP’s comments highlight fatal flaws in both the tree’s genetic design and the approval process, including:
- Flawed, incomplete science and testing–as called out by TACF [2]
- Violations of the precautionary principle
- Disregard for Indigenous sovereignty and consent (in violation of NEPA)
- Conflicts of interest tied to plans with SilvaBio to mass-clone and sell the D54
USDA APHIS must listen to this overwhelming public opposition. The future of our forests must not be sacrificed for flawed science and corporate profit. The overwhelming response from the public and civil society makes it clear that the USDA must:
- Reject the petition to deregulate the Darling 54 GE American chestnut
- Require a full life-cycle ecological and social risk assessment of all GE trees that come before them.
- Support an Office of Inspector General investigation into SUNY-ESF’s GE chestnut program and its plans to work with the for-profit SilvaBio company to mass-clone and sell the documented defective D54 American chestnut. [3]
- Support non-GE chestnut restoration rooted in sound science, biodiversity, and Indigenous knowledge
Full comments and documentation available upon request.
For more information, visit: https://stopgetrees.org/chestnut/
NOTES TO EDITORS
[1] The formal submissions included in Global Justice Ecology Project’s comments include:
- GJEP Comments on the USDA APHIS DEIS for D54 submitted July 21 2025
- Rainforest Rescue petition opposing GE trees: 144,246 signatures
- Friends of the Earth US petition: 21,159 signatures
- Campaign to STOP GE Trees Action Network Petition: 4,379 signatures
- GJEP rapid petition: 1,600 signatures and 43 organizations in 6 weeks.
- 400 organizations globally endorse a full ban on any environmental release of GE trees
- A coordinated email protest sent by 200+ individuals to Andy Newhouse, lead researcher at SUNY ESF telling him to withdraw the petition for deregulation.
- Earth Island Journal feature, “The Darling 58 Debacle,” reaching an audience of 2 million annually
- A letter to the Office of Inspector General requesting a formal investigation into SUNY ESF’s conduct
- Information from The American Chestnut Foundation (TACF) on their withdrawal of support for deregulation of the D54 GE chestnut, along with scientific documentation of the trees’ major defects.
- Adam Koranyi, Professor of Mathematics at the City University of New York, 2021 analysis of public acceptance survey
[2] TACF’s scientific analysis of the performance problems of the genetically engineered Darling 54 chestnut tree: https://tacf.org/darling-58-performance/
[3] ESF’s website states, “We are not patenting the blight resistant American chestnut trees so that once we have regulatory approval, all people will be able to propagate them for personal or restoration use.” Meanwhile SilvaBio’s website states “SilvaBio licensed the Darling line of American chestnut trees [from SUNY-ESF] … and now look forward to distributing these special trees to select customers.“
