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November 26, 2008, 09:53 AM ET
Penn State Turns to the Internet to Explain Loss of Campus Trees
Why are so many beloved trees being cut down on Pennsylvania State University’s University Park campus? University officials turned to the Internet to explain why to students, faculty members, and alumni — with a series of online videos, as well as with a page of frequently asked questions and a map showing trees to be taken down.
A disease called elm yellows has afflicted 47 of the university’s 287 landmark elm trees, some dating as far back as 1890 and standing as tall as 115 feet. The disease, according to one Penn State video, is believed to kill every tree it attacks, and the only way the university knows to fight it is to cut down affected trees in hopes of limiting the disease’s spread.
Penn State’s plant pathologists say that comparatively little is known about elm yellows, even though it has been spreading inexorably across the United States. The disease, which kills the layer of cells beneath the bark that transports nutrients from the roots to the leaves, is thought to be transmitted from one tree to another by tiny insects called elm leafhoppers.
In reaching out to alumni and others to explain the problem, university officials included a video describing the trees’ importance to graduates, and another explaining that the elms provide not only shade but also cooling moisture on hot summer days. Additional videos detail efforts to learn more about and combat the disease. —Lawrence Biemiller
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