In the province of Manitoba, Canada, 14 communities were paired on the basis of size and location. From 2004 to 2010 in one member of each pair, rapid removal of American elm (Ulmus americana) trees that displayed symptoms of Dutch elm disease was practiced: newly symptomatic trees were removed within six weeks of symptom detection. The remaining member of each pair continued with autumn or winter removal of symptomatic trees. Treed urban study areas were selected in each community, and in 2008 an inventory of U. americana was taken in these areas. From this inventory and from records of tree removals, estimates of the number of living U. americana and prevalence of Dutch elm disease were made for each year from 2004 to 2010. Following the switch to rapid removal, the annual prevalence of Dutch elm disease in rapid removal communities was 1.5 ± 0.2%, significantly lower than in communities with autumn/winter removal (3.1 ± 0.4%). The study authors estimate that in similar areas the value of the elm resource after 10 years would be almost CAD $600,000/km2 greater if rapid removal rather than autumn/winter removal were practiced. Therefore, under conditions similar to those in these communities, rapid removal should be a component of management programs for Dutch elm disease.