Crews have arrived to begin removal of Dutch Elm Disease-infected trees in Melfort. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW Staff)

By Cam Lee

Melfort Dutch Elm update

Contractor begins removal of trees infected with Dutch Elm Disease in Melfort

Sep 11, 2024 | 10:32 AM

A crew has arrived in Melfort to try to slow the city’s significant Dutch Elm Disease problem.

Director of Community Services Rob Lok told northeastNOW the city’s tree removal contractor has begun work to dispose of trees infected with the disease. Lok said the contractor is removing some of the trees in the first installment and the city will see how things look after that.

“We’ve got to kind of watch our budget on this one and whether we’re going to have to partly share a budget from 2024 and 2025 to get these trees done, but we are incrementally working at that this fall,” Lok explained, and he added the sooner the trees are removed the better to reduce the spread of the disease.

Dutch Elm Disease has grown to significant levels in the City of Melfort. Lok said this year’s report indicated there are 102 trees that are newly infected with the disease this year, with a few infected trees from last year that have not yet been removed. As a comparison, Regina has 36 infected trees this year, and Saskatoon has six, with eight trees being removed in all. Lok said Melfort is near the top of the list of communities with the most infected trees.

While many of the trees are in the city’s well-treed established neighbourhoods like Stovel, Crawford, Macleod, and Burrows Avenues, Lok said they’re starting to see the disease spread to other areas of Melfort.

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“We’re seeing a bit of spread onto some streets where we haven’t previously seen the disease.”

Dutch Elm is spread by the Elm Bark Beetle, which has a fungus on it. As the beetle transfers from tree to tree, it brings the fungus with it, infecting the tree and ultimately causing it to die.

There is some positive news. Lok said they’ve done a survey of diseased trees on private land, and homeowners removed about 50 per cent of the infected trees, and he said the city thanks them for their effort to stem the spread of Dutch Elm Disease.

“Congratulations to all the folks that have acted on this, that’s fantastic,” said Lok.

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Cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @northeastNOW_SK