Fungi devastate maple trees in Elkhart's Rice Cemetery

ELKHART, Ind. (AP) - When Diane Kirts lost her husband last year, she made sure he would be laid to rest in a well-kept plot in Rice Cemetery.

She visits his grave three times a week to weed and water, and the shade of a large maple tree helps the plants in the summer.

That large maple is one of dozens in the cemetery now tagged with a red dot - the mark that means city crews will take it down in the coming months.

Fresh stumps are scattered around the cemetery grounds, and many of the trees still standing are visibly damaged, with chunks of bark gone or large limbs missing.

A severe case of verticillium wilt is to blame. The disease caused by soil-borne fungi is killing the hundreds of Norway maple trees planted in Rice Cemetery decades ago.

While all maples are susceptible to the disease, Elkhart city forester Dan Coy said the drought of 2012 greatly stressed the Norway maples, and that may have contributed to the widespread infection. When the fungus affects a tree, it shuts down its entire water pathway and kills it.

The city of Elkhart is in the midst of an effort to remove the dead, dying and critically damaged trees in Rice Cemetery to give the others a fighting chance at survival.

Trees in Grace Lawn and Prairie Street cemeteries are not showing symptoms of verticillium wilt yet, but the forestry division will keep an eye on those sites and perform some trimming and removal as necessary.

Kirts told The Elkhart Truth (http://bit.ly/1CjTNCU ) she understands nothing can be done to treat the trees, but she is still devastated that they will be removed.

So is Coy, who is just emerging from a fight against the emerald ash borer - a very different but still lethal problem.

"The devastation is on par with the emerald ash borer," he said. "It's the last thing I want to see right now. It's significant canopy loss."

More trees will be planted - not maples, as verticillium can stay active in the soil for years - but they will not mature for decades.

Coy said there is one major lesson to take from the loss of the tree canopy due to the emerald ash borer and verticillium wilt: Diversification is important.

"We need to diversify and strengthen our tree canopy," he said. "You don't know what the next thing is to come down, and there is going to be a next thing."

He said global trade can bring disease to Elkhart forests, which is why travelers should pay close attention to their customs declarations.

Coy said the way to prevent further devastation is to keep trees healthy with plenty of water. He encouraged anyone with questions to visit the Purdue Extension online or contact him at daniel.coy@coei.org or 574-970-0542.

As for the emerald ash borer infestation: That battle may not be over quite yet, but there is a silver lining.

A program launched in 2012 called ElkhartWood enables the downed trees to be put to use and invests in the future tree canopy of Elkhart - one that Coy will make every effort to make sure is diverse.

"It's a terrible hit to the cemetery," he said. "We will be replanting. We don't want the trees to just go away, that's for sure."

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Information from: The Elkhart Truth, http://www.elkharttruth.com