YSU dedicates 2 American elms at Vets Resource Center

By SEAN BARRON

news@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Even though Dutch elm disease killed and decimated many American elm trees decades ago, the popular tree is seeing a resurgence, a local garden-club member contends.

“The tree is making a comeback,” said Dan Burns, a Men’s Garden Club of Youngstown member.

Burns spoke during a ceremony Tuesday at the Veterans Resource Center, 633 Wick Ave., where Youngstown State University dedicated two 20-foot elms that recently had been planted on either side of the center’s rear entrance.

The local garden club planted the trees as part of a nationwide effort called the American Elm Tree Project, which encourages the planting of disease-

resistant varieties in parks and other public spaces.

DED is a fungal disease typically carried by beetles or transmitted through connected roots and often kills the trees after the fungal spores move through the root system or up the branches.

Signs and symptoms usually appear in late spring or early summer and include a downward progression of yellow and wilted leaves, brown streaks on the affected branches and fallen leaves out of season, according to the University of Minnesota Extension.

The country’s earliest settlers discovered elm trees, and by the early 1800s, they became popular as memorial trees, Burns noted. Their numbers increased largely because oak and other types of trees were more preferable for lumber, he continued.

By the 1930s, an estimated 25 million such trees had been planted, noted Lynn Hoffmann, another garden-club member.

In 2009, the club passed an American Elm Tree Project proclamation with goals that included promoting greater awareness of disease-resistant types, encouraging people to plant the trees in their yards, and creating a testing and evaluation site in conjunction with Mill Creek MetroParks, Hoffmann explained.

A greater number of students are considering YSU, so it’s important to continue efforts to improve the aesthetics on and around the campus, YSU President Jim Tressel noted.

“Wick Avenue needs to become a showplace of the history of this city and region,” Tressel said.

The two trees at the resource center should be able to fight disease and cross-pollinate, which could produce seeds, said Larry Tooker, a member of the local garden club and the Campus Beautification Working Group.

“The American elm is such a magnificent shade tree,” said Tooker, who proposed the resource center as a planting site. “We think it’s important to bring this majestic tree back to the landscape of American cities.”

Making additional remarks was Rick Williams, the Office of Veterans Affairs’ coordinator.

The program concluded with the unveiling of a plaque next to each of the trees.