LYNCHBURG, Tenn. — The white oaks dropping acorns across Moore County yards and fencerows this month are the same species that becomes every barrel of Jack Daniel’s Tennessee Whiskey, and the state is asking residents to pick those acorns up.
The Tennessee Department of Agriculture Division of Forestry is collecting white oak acorns statewide through Nov. 15 as part of the Tennessee White Oak Initiative. The partnership includes the division’s East Tennessee Nursery, University of Tennessee Extension and the Tennessee Forestry Association. Acorns that come in are grown into seedlings for replanting white oak in forests across the state.
“White oak regrowth has declined in Tennessee’s forests,” State Forester Heather Slayton said in a release announcing the program. Slayton said anyone can take part, whether or not they own wooded land…