Monarch Compute Campus threatens 200 chestnut trees in West Virginia
A massive new AI data center, called Monarch Compute Campus, could wipe out a grove of 200 rare, blight-resistant chestnut trees in West Virginia.
Being developed by Nscale, in collaboration with NVIDIA and Caterpillar, the over $20 billion project would cover more than 2,250 acres and become one of the largest single AI infrastructure investments in US history.
Grove holding American chestnut seeds threatened
This isn't just any patch of trees: the grove was planted in the 1970s from wild surviving American chestnuts and is key for bringing this nearly lost species back to West Virginia.
Environmental advocates say losing it would be a huge setback for conservation and the primary seed source to restore the species across West Virginia.
It is at risk of being bulldozed to make way for a hyperscale data center in West Virginia.