An administration report to Saskatoon’s Environment, Utilities and Corporate Services Committee recommends waiving landfill entry and tipping fees when corporate users are dumping elm wood. Last year, it was decided to take away the fee for residential users. This is all in an effort to mitigate Dutch Elm Disease, which if it takes hold in Saskatoon, could decimate 25 per cent of the city’s urban forest.

Robin Adair, owner of Arbour Crest Tree Services, welcomes this, explaining that not everyone has the appropriate vehicle for dumping elm wood, so once a diseased tree is felled on their property, they have to pay to have it taken to the landfill, but because it’s a business, it’s no longer free and that cost ends up being paid by the home owner. He says, “I don’t know how long the landfill has been charging for elm. I have done arbourist work in the Prairies in Calgary and Saskatoon for 30 years, and talking to other arbourists coming in from Winnipeg, Edmonton and Calgary, it’s like why is Saskatoon charging for elm? It’s very rare that municipalities charge to dump organic product.”

Administration estimates the lost revenue would be between $130,000 and $200,000 but the Manager of Education & Environmental Performance, Kate Burns, believes that’s less costly than losing all the trees and having to replace them. She adds that there is interim funding through existing capital projects. The Committee unanimously approved the recommendation, and it will now go before City Council.

photos from City of Saskatoon