Saskatoon removes 13 tonnes of improperly stored elm wood after Dutch elm disease case confirmed

Saskatoon has removed 13,000 kilograms of elm wood from private properties after an extensive search of some west-side neighbourhoods.

The search came after a confirmed case of Dutch elm disease in a tree in the Montgomery area in September.

It was only the second confirmed case of Dutch elm in Saskatoon (the other being in 2015).

City of Saskatoon entomologist Jeff Boone said the diseased tree was spotted by a city worker.

To stop the spread, inspections and testing were done on private and public trees in the surrounding area including the Montgomery, Fairhaven, Meadowgreen and South Industrial areas. 

Inspectors issued 71 infraction notices (46 of which involved elm firewood) and removed more than 13 tonnes of elm wood from private property.

The city said there were several instances where wood was moved from somewhere with elm bark beetle activity.

They also tested 20 trees and have yet to find any more that are infected.

Boone thinks the city spotted the disease early before it had spread to other trees.

"This disease is a really aggressive disease that can rapidly kill a lot of American [elms]," he said. 

Boone said Dutch elm disease is hard to control because it is transmitted by a beetle and attacks the tree's vascular tissue and blocks water flow through it, which then causes a rapid decline.

"So it's really difficult to control, especially when it gets into a tree where there's a lot of elements, because it moves readily through grafted roots below ground," he said.

"You're sort of chasing it down the street as you try to manage the disease. So this is part of the problem and part of the challenge of managing that disease, is getting ahead of it once it gets established, especially in dense neighbourhoods."

Provincial regulations prohibit storing or transporting elm firewood and pruning of elm trees is banned from April 1 to Aug. 31.

Boone said elm firewood was likely how the disease got into the city.

"There's quite a lot of firewood in Montgomery and a lot of people are unaware of what [elm] firewood looked like," he said. "So it sort of told us that there's quite a bit of messaging that we need to do to explain some of these regulations to people and work with people that have firewood."

Boone said Saskatoon has one of the largest elm tree populations that is currently generally free of Dutch elm disease. 

"It's a signature feature of our city and it's part of our streetscape."

Boone said the most effective management strategy for the disease is to not transport or store elm wood. Residents should always dispose of any elm wood at the city landfill, he said.

The city will continue searching for symptomatic trees in the spring and summer of 2021 to confirm the disease has not spread.

"Early indications suggest that the disease hasn't spread," Boone said. "Next year will be a really, really useful year for finding other infected trees to see if it has spread."

For more information on Dutch elm disease, visit saskatoon.ca/dutchelmdisease.