I think that it would be a good idea to grind it out. I've read that doing it before the spring is best since that is the time that the beetles emerge.

I have to ask though, are there any other elms on the property?

The last thing a stump grinder wants to get tangled up with is a chain link fence.
I would remove as much as possible with a chainsaw being very careful not to hit the fence. Then I would evenly spread a couple of cups of high nitrogen fertilizer on the stump and then cover with woodchips or compost.
Or you can plant Sedums on the stump like I did.
Mike

Fire. If possible burn the stump out, or the outer layers anyway. From there, the nitrogen for anything remaining would be a good ideal.

Arktrees

you guys are confusing my gut ...

doesnt disease need a live organism to continue its own life ...

and what ?? .. are other elms.. going to sneak in your yard .. in the dark of night.. and smear themselves on it .... whats the vector to spreading??? [get pics if they do.. lol]

no science here.. just my gut.. and sometimes it lies to me ...

ken

Well the disease was brought to North America in imported Dutch Elm Logs (meaning they originated from the Netherlands, and not that there is a Dutch Elm) that were infected with DED and the Elm Bark Beetle (the carrier of DED). These Beetles escaped the logs, and set off DED in North America. It is the Beetles that carry the disease from tree to tree. So destroying the remaining stump is not unwarranted.

Arktrees

DED and Elm Bark Beetles are pretty much endemic in eastern North America. I don't see any value in removing the stump other than for aesthetic reasons.

If the tree 'just' died, it's been managing the beetles and the fungus for several years already. I would expect the other trees already maintain their own population of beetles and may or may not already be infected with DED. The stump is moot at this point.

There is another elm on the property, only about 30 feet away, so root grafts are very likely. The second tree was injected with arbortect fungicide as soon as the first tree was diagnosed.

Ken, as arktrees mentioned, both the beetles and the fungus can persist for some amount of time in logs. Furthermore, I think it's possible that the roots of the tree may continue to live for some time after the top has died. Elms die from DED because the water transport system gets clogged, so the tree can't transport water to the top. I assume this is not such a big problem for the roots, since they won't dry out nearly as fast, and they may live until they run out of carbohydrate reserves. That's my speculation though.

smivies, my understanding of DED is that it can kill a tree quite quickly, depending on the tree and the strain of DED. The link below says a tree infected in the spring may die that season.

Alex

Here is a link that might be useful: American Phytopathological Society web page on DED

Can you take an axe and bark the stump? Doing that would expose the feeding galleries of the beetles and birds could pick them off. The bark can be gathered up and burnt to get the little beesties that remain. It would lower the number of beetles. At 30 feet from the one that died, the second is either going to turn out to be resistant, or it will die when the expensive fungicide is stopped.. Best of luck. I heard that once infected, the fungicide can't free a tree of infection, just hold it in check. Maybe that's wrong, let's hope.