Dutch Elm Disease in the United States

Dutch Elm Disease arrived in the United States in 1930 in shipments of infected elm logs imported from Europe. Over the following six decades it killed an estimated 75% of mature American elms (Ulmus americana) — once the dominant urban street tree across the eastern half of the country. The disease is now established in nearly all states with significant elm populations, and management has shifted from active suppression to long-term restoration with resistant cultivars.

Arrival and early spread

The first confirmed US detection of Dutch Elm Disease was in Cleveland, Ohio in 1930, in a shipment of elm logs imported for furniture veneer. Additional introductions through East Coast ports followed in the 1930s. The disease established quickly in the dense American elm populations of the eastern and midwestern states, where the absence of any co-evolutionary history left native elms with no genetic resistance.

By 1940 the disease was present across the Northeast and Great Lakes regions. By the 1960s it had reached most of the Midwest, and by the 1980s the Pacific Northwest. The continental spread averaged 5–20 miles per year by natural beetle dispersal, accelerated dramatically by human movement of infected elm wood.

Population impact

Pre-DED estimates put the American elm population in the United States at approximately 77 million mature trees in 1930. By the 1990s, an estimated 75% of mature trees had died — among the largest tree disease epidemics ever recorded.

The losses were particularly visible in cities that had planted American elm as a near-monoculture along streets. Cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, and Minneapolis lost most of their mature street tree canopy within a few decades. The "cathedral elm" boulevards that defined American urban landscapes from the 1880s through the 1940s largely disappeared.

Federal and university response

USDA research on DED began in the 1930s and intensified after WWII. Major institutional contributions include:

USDA Agricultural Research Service — pathogen biology and breeding programs at Beltsville, Maryland

USDA National Arboretum — Alden Townsend's American elm screening program, which produced 'Valley Forge', 'New Harmony', and 'Jefferson'

USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station — long-term ecology and management research

Morton Arboretum (Illinois) — George Ware's Asian elm hybrid program, producing Accolade™ and Triumph™

University of Wisconsin–Madison — Eugene Smalley's foundational breeding program (the source of Athena® and Allee® parentage)

University of Minnesota — cold-hardy resistance breeding and Twin Cities municipal coordination

North Dakota State University — Prairie Expedition™ cold-hardy release

State and municipal management

Sustained municipal management programs have been most successful in cold-climate cities where reduced beetle pressure allowed sanitation efforts to keep ahead of the disease. See:

Dutch Elm Disease in Minnesota

Dutch Elm Disease in Wisconsin

Dutch Elm Disease in Minneapolis

Quarantine and regulations

USDA APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service) maintains federal restrictions on the interstate movement of elm wood and nursery stock. State-level quarantines vary; many midwestern and northern states with active management programs maintain stricter controls than southern states. Movement of elm firewood across state lines is generally prohibited or restricted.

For practical wood-handling guidance, see Can Firewood Spread Dutch Elm Disease?.

Current status

DED is endemic across the continental United States in regions with elm populations. Active municipal programs continue in dozens of cities, but most rely on a combination of:

Sanitation removal of dead and dying elms

Preventive fungicide injection of high-value mature trees

Replacement planting with resistant cultivars

Public outreach about firewood movement and beetle vectors

Related pages

Dutch Elm Disease by Region

What Is The Range of Dutch Elm Disease?

Where Did Dutch Elm Disease Come From?

American Elm (Ulmus americana)

What Cultivars Are Resistant to Dutch Elm Disease?

References

Hubbes, M. (1999). "The American elm and Dutch elm disease." The Forestry Chronicle, 75(2), 265–273.

Slavicek, J. M., et al. (2009). "Genetic improvement of American elm for restoration of riparian and floodplain ecosystems." Native Plants Journal, 10(2), 78–84.

USDA Forest Service. How to identify and manage Dutch elm disease (NA-PR-07-98).

Sherald, J. L. (1993). "Demands and opportunities for selecting disease-resistant elms." In Dutch Elm Disease Research: Cellular and Molecular Approaches (pp. 60–68). Springer.