LIBERTY ELM

The LIberty Elm was dedicated July 8 2009. Hopefully this will grow 80 feet tall and live hundreds of years.

The American elm once stood as a graceful sentinel on almost every street and square across our nation. Until a few years ago, it was in danger of becoming a memory, the victim of Dutch elm disease (DED).

Discovered in the Ohio River Valley, 1932 DED became know as the "cancer" of the tree world. In the early years the fungus spread unchecked, borne from tree to tree by clouds of tiny, windblown beetles. It destroyed over 100 million elms, many of them dating from the 1700s. Efforts were wasted in frantic "cut and burn" campaigns. With no programs to save the American elm, it was up to private citizens to prevent this great tree from going the way of the chestnut. Elm Research Institute stepped in to combat DED and restore elms to the American landscape.