Bacterial wetwood, Verticillium wilt, cankers, elm case borer, elm leaf miner and elm borer may also be problematic. The wood is strong, tough, hard, heavy and coarse-grained. It was used for veneer, durable flooring, sporting goods, ship-building, barrel staves and for the bent parts of furniture. The wood holds screws well and was widely used for boxes and crates. Native Americans used the bark to make ropes and the wood for canoes.
Elms are relatively unimportant to wildlife compared to oaks, maples and dogwoods.
Songbirds, gamebirds and rodents feed on the seeds and buds. Deer and rabbits eat the twigs and buds and elms are often used as nesting sites by a variety of birds. This species was the favorite nesting tree of the Baltimore oriole. With a tall, graceful outline and casting excellent shade , the American elm was once the most popular tree for street and yard planting in America.