20 Years in the Making: Restoring the Escalante River

light green/ silvery leaves

yellowish olive-shaped fruit

Russian Olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia) is a perennial tree or shrub with light green/silvery leaves that can grow to 30+ feet tall and bears yellowish, olive-shaped fruit. The young trunks and branches of Russian Olive have large 1 to 2 inch thorns. Native to southern Europe and to central and western Asia,  Russian Olive was introduced to the central and western United States in the early 1900's as a horticultural plant. It was cultivated as a hedge, to provide shade and windbreaks, and as a landscape plant for decades and can still be found at plant nurseries throughout the southwest.

thorns

yellow 4-lobed flowers

Since its introduction Russian Olive (RO to weed warriors) has escaped into the rivers and canyons of the southwest where it has become a serious threat to the native plants and animals. Thick stands of Russian Olive crowd the river banks, narrowing the river channel, trapping sediment and changing the water temperature and chemistry, and shading/crowding out native river plants. Fragrant willows, magestic cottonwoods and other native woody shrubs and trees that provide critical shelter, food and habitat to migrant birds, nesting waterfowl, deer, and elk disappear from the river banks as the Russian Olive moves in.

BEFORE/AFTER THE INVASION OF RUSSIAN OLIVE

Escalante River just above the ‘Twin Canyons’ between Harris Wash and Choprock

(left\before)    April 30, 1991 — No Russian Olive present. Photo: Bill Wolverton 

(right\after)   April 28, 2010 — 19 years later overrun with Russian Olive. Photo: Bill Wolverton

Wilderness Volunteers has been actively working to restore southern Utah's magnificent Escalante River corridor since 1998 by fielding multiple Russian Olive removal projects each year. We've coordinated over 58 week-long volunteer service projects over the last 20 years in cooperation with the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (downstream), Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (upstream), the Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, and the Escalante River Watershed Partnership (ERWP).

The Escalante River runs approximately 90 miles from where the river forms at the merging of the Upper Valley and Birch Creeks to the southeast where it flows into Lake Powell. Volunteers have hiked countless miles into the far reaches of the Escalante to remove Russian Olive. They've used saws, loppers and other small hand tools to cut small RO trees and treated the stumps with herbicide to finish the job. Larger trees were trimmed back, girdled (the bark is removed from the entire circumference of the trunk), and herbicide applied to the cut. Larger RO are often girdled and left standing to minimize the amount of debris on the ground. These trees die and and eventually fall down and are washed out with natural flood activity. 

   

Just across the river from Choprock Canyon
(left\before)    August 28, 2009 — Photo: Bill Wolverton
(right\after)   May 5, 2010 — Photo: Bill Wolverton

0.25 miles above Choprock Canyon
(left\before)    August 29, 2009 — Photo: Bill Wolverton
(right\after)   October 16, 2010 — Photo: Bill Wolverton

As of late 2017, over 84 miles of the 90 mile river corridor had been cleared from the reservoir up and the prediction is that all 90 miles will have been treated by the end of 2018. This isn't the end of our Russian Olive removal efforts in the Escalante (as some areas will need retreatment) but it is an incredible milestone for a massive restoration undertaking that many didn't think was feasible when removal effort first began.

Thank you to all of the dedicated volunteers, public land agency staff, and tireless weed warriors who have made this possible. 

"Off in the east an isolated storm is boiling over the desert, a mass of lavender clouds bombarding the earth with lightning and trailing curtains of rain. The distance is so great that I cannot hear the thunder. Between here and there and me and the mountains it’s the canyon wilderness, the hoodoo land of spire and pillar and pinnacle where no man lives, and where the river flows, unseen, through the blue-black trenches in the rock."
-Edward Abbey, Desert Solitaire

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Grand Staircase Escalante Partners

 Escalante River Watershed Partnership 

Bill Wolverton

Tom Haberle

Jim Bowman

Amber Hughes

John Sherman

Deborah Northcutt
Bill Sheppard
Carleton Sheppard

Dave Pacheco

Misha Kokotovic

Bill Olmstead

Dan Stevens

Dudley McIlhenny

Curt Mobley

Steve Cole

Robin Rose
Brian Bondy

Jen Jackson-Quintano

Jane Butter

Stephanie Flores
Cass Hopkinson

Brian Miller

Henry Whiteside

Jeff Moorehead

John McLean

Caroline Williams

Tony Zimmer

Chris Riccardo

Don Meaders
Edward Hill

Kathryne Zaborowski

Aaron Crosby

Bill Goolsby

INTERN BLOG SERIES: No Country for the Uncertain

No Country for the Uncertain

                               by Mary Sanders

views from camp

Our group, tired and focusing heavily on the warm food in front of us, ate dinner quietly, enjoying the remaining hours of sun. It was day four of our project. Dinner was pasta, accompanied by the garlic knots I was assigned to make. Reminder, this is intern that is trying to get as much backcountry cooking experience as possible, there was a lot of effort that went into those knots. A group member was kind enough to compliment my work, and jokingly I responded “at least I did one thing right”. A lot of people laughed. One of the volunteers, Melissa, was not going to let that one fly though. She turned to me and corrected me for undercutting myself. It may seem so small, garlic knots for god sake, but all too often people, especially young women, as Melissa pointed out, brush off their abilities. It took only that moment for there to be a huge realization on my part. Here the group was, in one of the best scenarios to build on skill sets and confidence, as anyone in the backcountry has. It was time to take advantage of it.

the hard hats and rain boots we brought in

the group loading up the truck on day one

This was my very first Wilderness Volunteer Project, and second time backpacking, so to say the least there was a lot to learn. Being in a place like the Never Summer Wilderness, an environment so unfamiliar, a lot can happen. Moments like carrying a heavy cooler across a river on a narrow log, learning how to use a WhisperLite stove, and trying to convince myself the moose outside my tent isn’t going to kill me, were all major points, personally, during that week. The backcountry does not allow questioning of self. It doesn't have time for frustration, selfishness, pride. It’s basically where the seven deadly sins go to die. Quite frankly, I worked hard to adjust, but what was almost more important, was to realize how much progress I was making through the week. It was apparent from Melissa’s comment that there was still some work to be done in that department.

volunteer Melissa working at crossing #2

 leaders Ben and Laura resting on a stringer

It wasn’t just the intern. Everyone in that pack of seven volunteers, and one forest ranger, got to grow a little. Each day members were checking up on one another more, not being so eager to be the first one served at dinner, and seeking out ways to help during down time. The communication got better too. Before picking up a log, there’d be greater clarification of where exactly it needed to be moved, and if the footing was good enough. There was also noticing that a volunteer’s mood was more of a reflection that it was day six on the project, than anything else. This seems to be the way of the backcountry. It doesn’t bring out the best in everyone necessarily, but it can. Because of the challenge, the fact that these individuals get put in such a foreign environment, the superhuman side sometimes makes an appearance.

 Trees plowed down from a previous avalanche, located near the worksite

That’s where the importance of Melissa’s comment comes in. It’s the acknowledgement of the accomplishment, the growth, that is so important. If I’d continued to undercut myself, as I was trying to learn and get comfortable with the work, well it’s like the saying: one step forward, two steps back. The volunteers give so much to the land during a weeklong project, but what might not be recognized, is how much the land gives in return. Would I say I’m a completely different person after returning from the trip? Of course not. Yet, I’m definitely more confident to take on the upcoming project challenges.

Mary is a sophomore at Michigan State University and is the Wilderness Volunteers 2018 Intern. Stay tuned for more blogs about her summer experiences on WV projects!