Sugar maple disease

[Prizl tha Chizl]

I posted this a few weeks ago over on "ask the forester" but didn't get any bites, but it seems like there's a little more traffic over here.

We've got a number of sugar maples that have cankers, this is one of the worst ones.

 
Anything I can do for these poor guys? Some older trees have survived for years like this, but it doesn't look like any fun. I see a couple of signs in a small sugar bush we planted 8 years ago, but if I walk over the ridge to the north slope, (maple hollow road,) I can't find any.
SW Wisconsin

[wisconsitom]

Hi Prizl.  Look up Eutypella canker-may be what you have there.

I would not expect there to be any curative strategies once infected.  There may be preventative strategies-avoidance of trunk/root flare injuries, soil compaction, and perhaps others.

[Prizl tha Chizl]

Thanks Wisconsitom,

That does seem like a possibility. The only thing is that the descriptions and images of eutypella are all an elliptical or round canker. In all of the trees I see this in it appears as a vertical canker or series of cankers. Also interesting that I have not found it in any of our silver maples, (we have no red maple.)

However it looks like the best thing I could do if it is eutypella, (or maybe something else) is to remove all infected trees. This would include at least one in the 12" diameter category. Does this seem right to y'all?

[wisconsitom]

I was thinking firewood right away.

[Prizl tha Chizl]

Nothing burns quite like hard maple on the fire, I guess I'm gonna get a little quicker return on my investment than I'd figured! 😢🤷