A 'historic' grove of 56-year-old chestnuts faces the axe for a massive AI datacenter. Is this the price of progress?

In 1904, a necrotrophic fungus called chestnut blight began devastating North America's native chestnut trees. This fungus, brought across the Pacific on chestnut trees from Japan and China, attacks tree bark and kills the above-ground portions of susceptible trees. The disease eventually wiped out billions of chestnut trees across the US. More than a century later, a grove of approximately 200 blight-resistant American chestnut trees in West Virginia is facing the threat of being cleared to make way for a large-scale artificial intelligence data center.

Planted in the 1970s, the 56-year-old trees are a valuable source of genetic material that could help restore the species. However, the proposed Monarch Compute Campus, developed by Nscale in collaboration with Nvidia and Caterpillar, could put the grove at risk. The project is planned to span more than 2,250 acres and provide 8 gigawatts of computing capacity, with its developer calling it "one of the largest single AI infrastructure investments in US history."

Why the West Virginia chestnut grove matters

The chestnut blight outbreak destroyed an estimated 4 billion American chestnut trees across the US.

Although surviving stumps can produce new shoots, these often succumb to the disease before reaching maturity.

Researchers and horticulturists have since worked to preserve the species through breeding programmes and blight-resistant hybrids. However, mature chestnut groves remain uncommon. According to the supplied report, fewer than 4,300 acres of fruit-producing chestnut trees existed across the continental US in 2023.The grove contains about 200 blight-resistant chestnut trees planted in the 1970s from surviving wild American chestnuts. Their age and genetic material make them a potentially important resource for future restoration efforts.A report published in From the Front Lines: Struggles for Justice by the New York-based Global Justice Ecology Project has raised concerns about the grove's future."Planted in the 1970s from wild surviving American chestnuts, this orchard is a vital 'genetics library,'" the publication explains, describing it as "the primary seed source to restore the species across West Virginia."The trees could provide seeds and genetic material for efforts to establish new chestnut populations. Losing the grove could therefore affect more than the existing trees, potentially reducing the resources available to future restoration projects.

What is the Monarch Compute Campus

The proposed data center development is being built by Nscale in collaboration with Nvidia and Caterpillar. Under the current plans, the completed campus will cover more than 2,250 acres and provide 8 gigawatts of computing capacity for AI companies, including Anthropic.The development represents a substantial investment in computing infrastructure as technology companies expand their capacity to train and run artificial intelligence models.Nscale has described the project as "one of the largest single AI infrastructure investments in US history, anchoring America's compute foundation."The scale of the planned facility could make protecting the grove difficult, especially if the trees fall within areas designated for construction.

A conflict between AI infrastructure and conservation

The potential loss of the chestnut grove highlights a conflict between expanding AI infrastructure and preserving biological resources. Data centers require large sites, electricity and supporting infrastructure, while conservation projects depend on protecting habitats and maintaining genetic diversity.According to From the Front Lines, the surviving chestnut trees are "irreplaceable" because they could support future restoration work.The grove's future will depend on the development plans and whether its preservation can be reconciled with construction. For conservationists, protecting these trees could help retain an important source of genetic material for restoring American chestnuts to their former range.