Dutch Elm Disease - Catalyst To Community Forestry

[Music] Oh [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] in 1930 America's elm trees began dying a killer epidemic swept across North America leaving dead in its wake our most majestic shade trees the American elm since then over 56% of our nation's Elms have died the disease spreads easily wherever there are high concentrations of Elms in the western plain states that's both a benefit and the liability scattered throughout the region are pockets of highly concentrated human activity and concentrated palm trees the communities are actually isolated from one another by broad expanses of open plains farm and ranch lands that makes control the disease easier on a regional scale but also makes treatment so critical within any community that has sustained a Dutch elm disease infection Dutch elm disease is caused by a fungus that blocks the water uptake vessels in elements primarily American Elms as the fungus invades the system the water is choked from the leaves causing the tree to wilt and die the fungus is carried to healthy Elms by a tiny bark beetle while breeding inside infected trees the beetle unintentionally picks up spores of the fungus on its body the open spaces in the West create a barrier to the beetle it's not impossible for the insects or the disease to spread between the communities but it is easier to control than in the geese their communities are surrounded by forests of naturally occurring Elms which continually produce new generations of beetles making long-term control more difficult the first step to control Dutch elm disease is a tree survey that determines which elm species exist and where they are the surveillance provides an information base on which all further recommendations for treatments the intensity of control techniques and ultimately the success of the program will depend year-round survey crews locate map and record notes about the condition of the Elms a symptomatic survey we look for flagging which is any obvious wilting or drooping the leaves on a branch here's one right now these are fairly advanced symptoms and so they're very obvious on the right you can see green leaves that are drooping and welding and higher up on the branches you can see brown leaves in a more advanced state there if an element's flagging or if tiny emergence holes from the beetles are noted on the tree a sample twig is taken a brown stain or streaking in the sapwood also indicates the possibility of Dutch elm disease infection however these symptoms can be caused by other diseases so a laboratory confirmation is necessary to make a positive identification the key to Dutch elm disease control is in pump detection of the problem and then Swift measures to control the spread of the fungus the most important step toward control is prompt removal and disposal of all dead and dying Elmwood the beetles breed just beneath the bark of the dead elm trees and branches when the adult beetles hatch from the egg spores of the fungus attached to their bodies Dutch elm disease is then carried to healthy trees when the insects emerge to feed [Music] sanitation of the elm wood helps prevent invasion of the disease by eliminating potential breeding sites and thus controlling the beetle population both American Elms and Siberian or Chinese Elms can Harbor breeding beetles and even a pile of elm firewood could be used as a brood sight therefore all elm wood must be removed and disposed of as quickly as possible before another generation of beetles is produced thousands of beetles can emerge from a single infected tree so with the beetle serving as the disease carrier the spread of the fungus is rapid and very difficult to control but experiencing Dutch elm disease control has proven and very simple but important that if you control the beetle population you control the rapid spread of the fungus sanitation eliminates the sources of contamination and the breeding sites for the beetle it's the most effective of all available treatments but if supportive treatments are added the chances for successful control of the disease increases even more the second line of defense then is insecticide sprays a chemical insecticide is sprayed on the air killing the beetles on contact added to a program of strict sanitation the insecticide increases the effectiveness of the overall control program if no fungus existed the beetles could go about their business with little or no harm to the Elms but since they spread the disease so effectively they must be controlled the fungus can spread underground through intermingling roots if the trees are planted within about 40 feet of one another transmission of the disease through root grafts is just as deadly although the spread is much slower and easier to control on a large scale than the bark beetles the third control technique mechanical trenching severs the root system and creates a barrier for the fungus the ideal Dutch elm disease control program for the western United States would integrate all these treatments to be most effective each treatment would be applied annually to keep the losses at a minimum it takes time effort and of course money but the cost of not controlling the disease is even greater uncontrolled the fungus spreads at a rate of free elm stricken for each infected elm left standing that means the city like Denver could lose all of its remaining 18,000 American elms within just nine years if the disease was left uncontrolled the losses in property values and removal costs would be more than would be spent annually for control [Music] sadly the epidemic we face today was in a sense avoidable it's actually the direct result of inadequate planning and foresight by our predecessors in 1905 a tree giveaway program has begun in Denver at its peak 20,000 maple and elm trees are given to homeowners during one spring season today the city of Denver has beautiful tree-lined streets as a result but also battles to safe its Elms from Dutch elm disease by planning too many trees of the same kind the settlers created an open invitation for a widespread disease epidemic so we have the opportunity to learn from that experience but all too often we recreate the mistakes from the past too often we do not adequately plan ahead to avoid the long term problems which plagued our urban forests mass plantings of honey locust in the region are already suffering from foreign area canker a disease which is approaching epidemic proportions in some areas the segmented and haphazard way in which trees are selected can result in monocultures and stagnant or weak urban forests and light the settlers we really don't know what kind of problems we might be creating for the future this apple tree has fire blight and it was probably introduced into the apple tree by honeybees many communities have expanded their commitment to control that young disease into a long-term commitment of toll management for their community for it applying the concept of preventive care they are assuring that some future disaster might be avoided community forestry programs vary in form and structure but the purpose and goals are almost always similar the program might consist of a group of citizens sharing a common inter or it might be just one highly motivated individual Yuma has been a very successful planet forestry program one of the main reasons I contribute this too is one individual marvin salvador he has been a key 1974 after working through the year of 73 with john and he explained the problems with Dutch elm disease to us we organized human community tree board what we're doing right at the present time is trying to stay on top of the program removing any trees that we see it's a problem and we get reports back from state forest service and we started night nursery plot in 1976 so it doesn't really take dollars to to promote a tree program this takes a lot of dedicated people in a lot of interesting contrast one community forestry program in Denver is equally as effective but dramatically different the complexities of a larger community may require more and varied resources but also offers more the parks people a large nonprofit citizens group has taken advantage of those resources in their fundraising efforts there tree committee mainly gets funds through grants from foundations and businesses in the community these grants will run anywhere from several hundred dollars to several thousand dollars in one main project that the parks people tree committee group had this year was the Atlantic Richfield planting the parks people got the Atlantic Richfield grouped together with a Neighborhood Association the Congress Park neighborhood to plant some trees an area was located that was basically treeless primarily due to losses from Dutch elm disease in the past years an Atlantic Richfield company donated about 16 trees to be planted on that two blocks trip and then the Neighborhood Association made a community involvement program the community forestry program let's begin and continue with the interest of local people when formed as a group they may be called the tree board a citizens advisory committee or a service club the regardless of the name they form the heart of any community forestry program the range of activities will of a tree board will vary from community to community a newly developed tree board for example may just be involved with information in education as a tree board develops its older we may find them getting involved more in the planning stages of the community forestry activities examples may be getting involved with the writing or preparing of ordinances they become an advisory group to the City Council in communities where a city Forester or a City arborist may exist doesn't mean that a tree board could not exist in most cases the city forester is busy with regulations and parks and so forth that they really do not get out to the to the citizens of the town to tell them how they should be taking care of their own trees a tree board could be very essential in that in that instance regardless of the structure or the projects involved a true community forestry program is more than concerned individuals working as individuals each program will have three basic elements in common planning coordination with professionals and a sustained commitment to action the key to community forestry programs lies in the capability for planning proper planning prevents the problems of the future and provides adequate care and maintenance for the trees of the present the program must coordinate the efforts and interests of the community with a professional who provides guidance and technical expertise about trees finally a community forestry program is action-oriented various projects and activities undertaken by the group provides solutions to problems we had on literally we had two diseased trees when I was at the Yuma cemetery which was removed right away we had one other disease tree appear on South May cat tree is being removed today the first priority of a community forestry program would be to control any lingering Dutch elm disease problems in fact many programs started that way but other insect and disease problems can also be fought through sound community forestry throughout the community a diversity of tree species makes for a pleasant neighborhood and prevents the chances of widespread losses to insect and disease damage by eliminating prime conditions for future epidemics healthy individual trees are better able to withstand the rigors of elm leaf beetle damage the stresses of thyra neck tree at canker on honey locust or fire blight on apple trees for example like controlling Dutch elm disease management of the urban forest begins with an inventory of the trees that already exist tree board members actually help identify and catalog their neighborhood trees but we need to look at first of all what kind of tree it is okay as we walk down the street we determine the type of tree will determine about the high defrosting height what condition is in but it's good therefore that are dying so forth and on these forms you have Jake and Pearl which blocks for you to mark down I like species we have American elm ash and so forth and the size of the tree we have to estimate what diameter tree this is and fill us on this just kind of keep track of the ones condition of whether they're good or they're dying when the inventory is complete they evaluate the needs of their community and develop a master plan for the future the plan will include recommendations for new tree species planting locations and maintenance guidelines determine the proper space to plant a tree I think one of the key things we need to remember is that tree selection and proper placement is one of the critical factors in a good community forestry program first consideration you have to go through is determine how much space you have if you only have a tree lawn of two feet your trunk will get too big you up heed the sidewalks and break the curb the trees will not have enough moisture and nutrients to grow properly shape of the tree will determine obviously you can see here that if you've got a sidewalk real close to here and you've got this spreading branch habit it's going to go way over the sidewalk and way over the street require more pruning and maintenance to keep above the street and sidewalk whereas in that case you may want to go with a pyramidal shaped tree and obviously if you get a power line coming across here and you plant the large tree the first thing that the utility companies will do is shave off that tree and then you got this butcher of the community forestry plan may include workshops and guidelines for other citizens and utility companies to keep tree down in maintenance at a minimizer with the problem here is a few years ago we had a real bad drought and because this tree happens to be real shallow rooted the why the water just was not there for the tree to grow so it started to die back from the top with the help of their professional resource person members of the tree committee might conduct workshops about planting or tree care for private homeowners the main reason for pruning trees is to improve the figure of the tree did you eliminate those dead branches that will attract insects and diseases you eliminate those branches that will create future problems whatever they may be by eliminating those branches you improve the tree you improve its looks and you improve its heart the Dutch elm disease epidemics or the costly but useful purpose it proved that we must care for and manage our urban forests as we've seen community forestry provides long-term solutions to many of the current problems in our urban forests but it serves an even more important role that has preventing problems through careful planning the growth of trees the subtle changes in the community the alterations to the landscape are often soulful and gradual we can do overlook their long-term consequences a community forestry program is a commitment to the future as well as the present so a community can for example plant a Dutch elm disease control program but also plan to replace the get out with a fresh mixture of tree species once that commitment is made if the people who enjoy the unlimited pleasures of their neighborhood tree and all the benefits other proposed urban forest [Music] [Music] you [Music]