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Case Study: Minneapolis

This case study will focus on Minneapolis because it is the largest city in Minnesota with one of the largest populations of elms with estimates between 200,000 to 600,000 elms before the disease hit. It also had one of the most enforced control programs of Dutch elm disease implemented in Minnesota.

The first reported case of Dutch elm disease in Minneapolis was in 1963. After this, the spread was very low with only 150 infected or dead elms reported form 1961 to 1971. Then the numbers of infected trees escalated quickly (Table 5).

Table 5. The increase of Dutch elm diseased trees in Minneapolis through 1977; and the decrease following control program enacted in 1977 (French, 1993).

Increase:		Decrease:
1972	222	1978	20813
1973	225	1979	6751
1974	937	1980	4184
1975	1688	1981	5068
1976	7239	1982	3389
1977	31475	1983	2144
		1984	4965
		1985	4087
		1986	2896
		1987	2280

The cost of the control program, at its peak in 1978, was $8.0 million (Table 6). There was also an addition $2.0 million given by the State Legislature to combat costs of eradication from 1977-1981. The money went to the tree and stump removal, trimming, insect and disease control, inspection and replanting. The program was considered a success and the city in 1993 still had close to 100,000 elms.

Table 6. Cost of Dutch elm disease control for the city of Minneapolis from 1978-1987 (French, 1993).

Year	Dollars (in millions)
1978	8.0
1979	6.7
1980	6.7
1981	7.0
1982	5.3
1983	5.0
1984	5.2
1985	5.1
1986	5.0
1987	5.6

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