[ Vermont ] In the 29 years since a fungal disease known as butternut canker was first observed in southwest Wisconsin , it has infected over 90 percent of butternut trees throughout their native range from New Brunswick , Canada , to Georgia to Minnesota . Dr. Bergdahl was the first to find the canker in Vermont , near Snake Mountain , in the fall of 1983. Since then, it has killed half the butternuts in the state. Though many people have never heard of the butternut, the tree has a long and history of usefulness. Indians tapped it for syrup, used the bark for medicine and dye, and ate the hard-to-crack but tasty nuts raw or boiled them to produce a buttery vegetable oil. The rot-resistant wood, often called white walnut, is favored by some woodworkers. Butternuts are also important to wildlife: many mammals eat the nuts. There is no known treatment for the butternut fungus, so conservation efforts are focused on finding and protecting resistant trees.

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