Forester hopes to catch up on Winnipeg Dutch elm removals as fewer diseased trees found in 2023 | CBC News

On a sunny October day in Winnipeg’s West Broadway neighbourhood, a private contractor used a piece of heavy machinery called a tree care handler to remove a large elm on the boulevard near John Unger’s home.

Unger said it was bittersweet to watch the machine — equipped with a telescoping boom and a hydraulic grapple saw — quickly cut through large branches, removing the tree faster than crews could if they only had chainsaws and a bucket truck.

“It’s a shame to lose the tree,” Unger said. “I’m glad that they’re getting some contractors like the outfit behind us to help them with it because otherwise I don’t think the city would’ve gotten to it for a while.”

While the number of trees with Dutch elm disease that were identified to be removed this year is down significantly from the average of the previous four years, Winnipeg is still playing catch-up on trees that were marked in 2022, according to city forester Martha Barwinsky.

“We did get behind and a lot of that has to do with the labour shortage, so labour shortage through private industry and even with ourselves,” Barwinsky said. “That’s another reason why we’re grateful we have 2,000 less trees to remove this year.”

Barwinsky said an average of 8,000 trees have been marked for removal over the previous four years.

The tree removed in front of Unger’s Spence Street home was identified as having Dutch elm disease in the summer of 2023. It was one of around 6,000 trees this year marked for removal this year to stop the spread of the fungal infection. 

Trees marked in 2022 still stand

Removing trees rapidly is key to stopping the spread of the disease, but just a few blocks from Unger’s home, three trees marked in 2022 are still standing, waiting to be removed.

The city said it removed a total of 6,117 trees with Dutch elm disease in 2022, and as of Monday, about 450 of the 8,128 trees marked for removal last year are still standing.

Gerry Engel, president of Trees Winnipeg, said that’s concerning.

“The storage of elm firewood is illegal and so when we leave trees standing in the neighbourhood for the following year, especially this late into the season, what’s the difference between that and storing elm firewood?” Engel said.

Dutch elm disease is transmitted from tree to tree primarily by the elm bark beetle, and can also spread when the roots of adjacent trees become grafted together.

Engel said when trees with Dutch elm are left standing, there’s a higher risk the fungus could spread to nearby elms.

“They became habitat for the disease and will increase the number of beetles that are going to transmit that disease and that’s the concern,” he said.

The City of Winnipeg’s 2023 budget earmarked $5.9 million for Dutch elm disease control.

The work to remove trees with Dutch elm is carried out by City of Winnipeg crews and private contractors hired by the city to help take down diseased elms.

Barwinsky said the city is split into sections, and different companies are awarded contracts through a bid process to remove trees within those sections.

City crews travel into all areas of Winnipeg to remove trees, she said. Barwinsky said her department tries to distribute resources as efficiently to remove trees as fast as possible.

“There’s lots of things that are part of that decision-making process,” she said. “It’s very complex.” 

Tree priority

She said in a perfect scenario, all trees identified as having Dutch elm in the summer would be removed before fall.

“That is the ultimate, ideal time to remove a diseased tree that has Dutch elm disease,” Barwinsky said. “We want to have those trees removed from the population before the next generation of elm bark beetles actually emerges from that tree in late summer.”

“Those are the beetles that are carrying the spores on their bodies … when they emerge in spring that’s what’s infecting new trees, healthy trees.”

WATCH | City of Winnipeg playing catch up to remove trees with Dutch elm disease:

City of Winnipeg playing catch-up to remove trees with Dutch elm disease

Featured VideoWhile the number of trees with Dutch elm disease that need to be taken down this year is down significantly from the average of the previous four years, Winnipeg is still playing catch-up on trees that were marked in 2022, according to city forester Martha Barwinsky.

But she said the fall deadline isn’t realistic given the number of trees that need to be removed, so they’re trying to get at the hardest hit trees first.

“Logistically, there’s no way we can remove 6,000 trees in two months,” she said.

“We’ve been working with University of Manitoba to develop a methodology on how to identify these trees that are providing habitat to a large number of those beetles, in particular,” Barwinsky said.

That research showed there are some trees the elm bark beetle prefers to establish its population within. Those trees, where the disease tends to progress more rapidly, are being targeted first, Barwinsky said.

“We’ve slowly been highlighting or prioritizing those trees,” she said. 

Despite labour challenges, Barwinsky said the city has the resources to remove all the trees identified in 2023 as having Dutch elm disease and she expects they’ll all be taken down before next summer.

“Our goal still is to have these trees removed by June,” Barwinsky said.

Unger, meanwhile, knew the tree in front of his home had to go, but that doesn’t make it any easier to lose part of the neighbourhood’s elm canopy.

“We’re going to have more sunshine in the afternoon on our home,” Unger said. “I hope they replace it.”