With summer camping season underway, the City of Edmonton issued a reminder to residents to leave firewood picked up elsewhere behind – either to “burn it where you buy it” or to leave it – to avoid transmitting a deadly disease to elm trees. The city has been actively spreading information about the dangers of Dutch Elm Disease over the past several years. The disease is caused by a fungus spread by bark beetles. Diligent pruning and prevention of its spread are two chief ways of preventing it. About 22 per cent of trees on city-owned land – 90,000 of them – are elms. The city recommends residents do not transport firewood back to Edmonton after camping. It also suggests removing bark beetle habitat by pruning dead, dying or diseased elm tree branches between Oct. 1 and March 31, by disposing of elm wood immediately by burning it or taking it to the Edmonton Waste Management Centre and to not combine elm wood with any other waste, including food scraps. The city maintains a webpage with more information on how to contain the disease’s spread.
