This block of Crawford Ave. W., near the Northern Lights Palace, has several trees marked as infected. (Cam Lee/northeastNOW)

By Cam Lee

Dutch Elm numbers up

Dutch Elm Disease cases jump to 127 in Melfort in 2025

Aug 15, 2025 | 10:34 AM

This year’s Dutch Elm Disease (DED) survey in Melfort is out, and the news is not good.

The City hired a Dutch Elm expert again this year to inspect local trees to see if they have the disease. Infected ones have been marked with a ring around them, either spray-painted or tied with a red ribbon.

Director of Community Services Rob Lok told northeastNOW the expert’s findings for 2025 are concerning.

“We are seeing an increase in identified trees this year over last year,” Lok explained. “There was a total of 127 identified trees, 73 of which were on public lands, and 54 which are on private property.”

Last year, the DED survey identified 102 tree: 49 on city land and 53 on private property. In 2023, 89 infected trees were reported.

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Lok said some of the boulevard trees identified as infected this year are the big canopy trees in established neighbourhoods that provide shade. Sadly, all infected trees on public land will be removed in the coming months.

“It’s a shame that we’re losing them.”

The City has funds available to remove the 73 trees on public land this year, and the Dutch Elm inspectors will send letters to property owners with infected trees to work with them to remove those trees as well.

The increase in infected trees isn’t just limited to the City of Melfort. Lok said there was a similar increase in Dutch Elm Disease cases in both the surrounding RM buffer area and the Melfort Research Farm.

Lok said the ideal scenario is to get ahead of the curve to greatly reduce the number of lost trees to the 10 to 20 range. The City’s Dutch Elm consultant told them the only way to do that is to remove the infected trees as soon as possible.

While the exact reason for the jump in cases hasn’t been revealed, Lok suggested the dry spring may have stressed trees to make them more susceptible to being infected. Dutch Elm Disease is spread by the elm bark beetle, which is attracted to fresh cut tree limbs. That is why the province enforces an elm pruning ban across Saskatchewan between April 1 and Aug. 31.

A Ministry of Environment spokesperson was unavailable for comment on Friday, but an interview with northeastNOW may happen on Monday.

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cam.lee@pattisonmedia.com