SASKATOON – Parks staff removed a tree infected with Dutch elm disease in the Varsity View neighbourhood on Wednesday, August 21.

Following confirmation of the positive case, the City of Saskatoon initiated its DED response plan, which includes the immediate removal and disposal of the infected tree at the landfill.

The city also says parks staff will increase surveillance of the area to look for stored elm wood.

Teams also took samples from symptomatic trees within a one-kilometer radius of the infected tree and will regularly prune trees in parks and on boulevards.

Park staff will regularly monitor areas and neighborhoods where a DED case has been confirmed, such as Varsity View.

This monitoring includes checking each property for elm trees or brushwood and removing them if found.

When residents are not home, staff will remove the elm wood and leave an elm violation notice with a note that the wood has been removed.

Under the Forest Resource Management Act and the Provincial Dutch Elm Disease Regulations 2005, inspectors are permitted to enter private property to inspect, sample and remove elm wood on private lands.

Regulations require property owners to remove and dispose of elm trees infected with DED. DED is caused by a fungus that clogs the tree’s water and nutrient systems until it dies.

DED was introduced to North America in the 1930s and has wiped out millions of elm trees in Canada and the United States. Saskatoon’s urban forest is 25 percent elm.

Several species of elm bark beetles contribute to the spread of dry elm in Saskatchewan. These beetles can fly over two kilometres in search of elm trees.

The DED fungus has tiny spores that attach to the beetle’s body. Elm bark beetles can carry these spores and infect other elm trees. Infected pruning tools can also spread the fungus.

Residents can help prevent DED by never storing elm wood or elm branches, never buying or accepting elm wood from others, and never burning it.

Residents are also advised not to prune elm trees from April 1 to August 31, when the provincial pruning ban applies. Elm wood from private households can be disposed of at the landfill free of charge.

Trees infected with DED must not be placed in compost depots and must not be thrown into the green bins. They must be disposed of immediately, even during the nationwide pruning ban.

In elm trees and firewood infected with DED, the first symptoms appear sometime in June. Among other things, the leaves begin to wilt and turn yellow before curling and turning brown.

If you suspect the elm is diseased or are unsure about your firewood, take a photo of it and file a report online at saskatoon.ca/dutchelmdisease or call Urban Forestry at 306-975-2890.

For more information about DED, visit saskatoon.ca/dutchelmdisease.

The parks department is also removing other trees that are in poor health and show signs of fungal infection. For example, two trees on Central Avenue were removed last month.