Malcolm Gore, an arborist with the Prospect Park Alliance, assessed the age of a recently fallen American elm, estimating it to be around 100 years old. This elm was part of a grove that suffered from Dutch elm disease, exacerbated by heavy foot traffic and last year's drought. Gore noted that the area was beloved for gatherings and ceremonies, adding to the challenge of preserving the trees. Despite efforts to save three trees in the grove, their demise is a painful reminder of the ongoing struggle against environmental stressors affecting urban green spaces.
I got to 90," he said. Counting tree rings for age isn't entirely accurate, Gore said. But he estimated the tree that stood there just hours earlier on Monday was around 100 years old.
Dog Beach is an off-leash area, so dogs have been able to run up here. People have picnicked here. Lots of folks have stopped today and said that this is like a magical place where they've had ceremonies and parties and things like that,
It hurts," he said. "I've put a lot of work into this grove and we lost [three] this spring. It's sad to see them go, but it's part of the job also - you kind of, you learn to learn to live with it.
American elms, with their tall and sprawling branches, were once among the most predominant trees in American streetscapes and public parks. But over the last century, Dutch elm disease has devastated their population.
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