Invasive pests and pathogens are a major threat to North American forests and have led to significant losses of several iconic tree species. The American elm (Ulmus americana) was once a common street tree, but populations have been depleted by Dutch elm disease. Ash species (Fraxinus) have suffered losses from emerald ash borer. The American chestnut (Castanea dentata) was once the largest tree in eastern North America and nicknamed "the redwood of the East," but now mostly grows as a shrub due to the introduction of chestnut blight. The list of native trees threatened by invasive pests and pathogens seems to be never ending with many more examples across the southeast. But is there any hope in saving these tree species and others like them? Will there ever be a chance of returning iconic tree species to the landscape for future generations? That's the goal of resistance breeding in forest trees.