Virginia Department of Forestry's Nursery Participates in American Grove Project in France

In December 1999, winds blowing at 100mph hit the Château de Versailles, uprooting and destroying more than 10,000 trees, including a 200-year-old tulip tree from Virginia.

Inspired to rebuild after this storm, Chilla Heuser-Rousselle, in association with Friends of Vieilles Maisons Françaises, created the American Grove, a prestigious historical and environmental project located near Queen Marie-Antoinette's Hamlet in the park of the Château de Versailles. Benjamin Franklin created the first treaty of alliance and trade between France and the United States at the Château de Versailles.

Friends of Vieilles Maisons Françaises contacted the Governors of the 50 states asking them to donate their state tree to be planted in the American Grove. For more than a year, Friends of Vieilles Maisons Françaises worked closely with the foresters from the State Forest Department, state nurseries, Forests Products Council, Wooded Products Association, the US Department of Agriculture, transport companies, the gardeners from the Château de Versailles, the French Department of Agriculture, custom officials and numerous individuals.

Dwight Stallard, Nursery Manager with the Virginia Department of Forestry, worked in conjunction with Chilla Heuser-Rousselle to provide a Dogwood tree from Virginia.

On October 22, 2001, the inaugural ceremony of the American Grove took place in the presence of the U.S. Ambassador Howard L. Leach and Mrs. Gretchen Leach and other French and American dignitaries. The inauguration was held under the patronage of President George W. Bush and the French President Jacques Chirac. The ceremony included a symbolic planting of the trees, in which eleven gubernatorial representatives shoveled dirt onto the roots of the tree from Delaware, the first state of the Union.

The American Grove defines the spirit of the unity of the United States and is a symbol of Franco-American friendship.

The magnificent gardens of Château de Versailles attract an estimated 5 million American visitors annually. American visitors will see their state tree proudly standing as a living and growing symbol of the love that Americans have for France.

Friends of Vieilles Maisons Françaises, an American non-profit association (501c3), is dedicated to the preservation of architectural, cultural and historical French heritage and environment, and to fostering educational and cultural exchange between France and the United States.

Last modified 2007-06-21