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Americans like to improve the places where they live. Sometimes, those improvements become such a part of our world that we forget they weren’t always here. The Russian olive tree, introduced to Idaho as an improvement, has taught us a lot about unintended consequences.
We’ll probably never pinpoint the first planting of a Russian olive tree in Idaho, but it was likely around 1906. The federal government was looking for tree species that would do well in the arid West, providing windbreaks while growing and fenceposts when harvested. The Russian olive filled the bill. It is tolerant of drought, floods, poor soil, and extreme temperatures.
By 1913, people were asking where they could get plants like those growing around the courthouse in Shoshone. The county clerk was also on the search in an effort to fill in hedge plants where some had died. He was having trouble finding a good source of seeds or young Russian olives. That scarcity didn’t last long.
J.F. Littooy, who had an office at 812 Bannock Street in Boise, was advertising trees of all kinds for purchase through his nursery the next year. Russian olives, sold as an ornamental tree, were 50 cents each.
In 1919, the University of Idaho School of Forestry began encouraging the planting of Russian olives with their pamphlet “Forest and Shade Trees for Planting in Idaho.” They would do so through the 1950s and 60s.
The University had 12 demonstration forests in Southern Idaho in 1927 to serve as “window displays” to promote the planting of trees. The forests consisted of woodlots, shelter belts, and windbreaks. They planted the trees six feet apart to permit horse cultivation and ensure the trees grew tall and straight in competition with each other. In addition to Russian olive, they planted black locust and Siberian elm seedlings. A two-man crew could plant an acre of trees—1210—in a nine-hour day.
The trees were becoming popular enough in landscapes that gardeners exhibited Russian olive blossoms at the Western Idaho Fair in 1933. That same year, the 4-H forestry club in Burley planted trees supplied by the University of Idaho on the fairgrounds there.
The next year, the Idaho Statesman reported that tree planting was really taking off all over Southern Idaho. Farmers could obtain them for half price to plant as woodlots and windbreaks. The state forester was particularly enamored with one variety, saying, “The Russian olive is the most useful exotic tree for Idaho. They are drouth resistant, hardy and not molested by rodents to any great extent.” About 100,000 trees of many varieties were planted under the guidance of the University of Idaho’s agricultural extension division in 1934.
In 1937, the Statesman reported another use for Russian olives. Dean Frank Howard and Professor Paul Nash of the Albion State Normal School presented a gavel to the Rotary Club in Rupert hand-carved from a Russian olive tree on campus.
It was also in 1937 that Dr. A.B. Hatch of the school of forestry at the University of Idaho began experimenting with Russian olives as a food and shelter source for Chinese pheasants and Hungarian partridges. He was reporting success in getting the imported game birds to eat the berries of the imported trees.
The very next year the Bonneville County Sportsmen’s Association planted 2,000 Russian olives in and near Idaho Falls “to provide edible fruit” to game birds.
It was about this time that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game got into the business of supplying Russian olives to farmers and for public lands. The University of Idaho continued selling cheap seedlings and often giving them away with funding provided by the Clark-McNary Act.
The scale of the plantings increased into the 40s. In 1941, the Statesman reported that the Lake Lowell CCC camp had grown 650,000 trees for distribution in Southern Idaho, 30,000 of the Russian olives.
And on, and on.
It wasn’t until the 1980s and 90s that scientists began to look at the downside of Russian olives as an invasive species. The transition in thinking evolved in the late 20th Century, when broad agreement finally emerged that Russian olives were an undesirable, invasive species. Forty-six states, including Idaho, now consider them weeds or invasive.
To their credit, the University of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, once the biggest promoters of Russian Olives, now encourage eradication.
So, what is wrong with this aromatic, pretty tree, once the darling of windbreaks and game-sheltering programs? The very thing that made them popular in the early years makes them a terrible nuisance today: They are fast-growing and adaptable to a variety of environmental conditions. They crowd out native plants and animals and impact insect diversity. They tend to grow in impenetrable thickets along riverbanks, limiting access for animals and people alike. Russian olives are a significant suck on water supplies in arid areas.
Once established, they are challenging to eradicate. My cousin, Debbie Reid Oleson, has drawn some attention for her successful efforts near Blackfoot. First, she cuts down the trees and burns the resulting pile. Then, she paints every stump with Roundup. Fresh shoots can also be controlled with Roundup, but you have to catch them right away. It can take years of this labor-intensive treatment to clear an area. Meanwhile, animals—mostly birds—spread Russian olive seeds back into the liberated areas every year.
Idaho’s history records the introduction of many invasive species, from cheat grass to starlings. Several, such as Russian olives, were introduced intentionally, an act later regretted.
We’ll probably never pinpoint the first planting of a Russian olive tree in Idaho, but it was likely around 1906. The federal government was looking for tree species that would do well in the arid West, providing windbreaks while growing and fenceposts when harvested. The Russian olive filled the bill. It is tolerant of drought, floods, poor soil, and extreme temperatures.
By 1913, people were asking where they could get plants like those growing around the courthouse in Shoshone. The county clerk was also on the search in an effort to fill in hedge plants where some had died. He was having trouble finding a good source of seeds or young Russian olives. That scarcity didn’t last long.
J.F. Littooy, who had an office at 812 Bannock Street in Boise, was advertising trees of all kinds for purchase through his nursery the next year. Russian olives, sold as an ornamental tree, were 50 cents each.
In 1919, the University of Idaho School of Forestry began encouraging the planting of Russian olives with their pamphlet “Forest and Shade Trees for Planting in Idaho.” They would do so through the 1950s and 60s.
The University had 12 demonstration forests in Southern Idaho in 1927 to serve as “window displays” to promote the planting of trees. The forests consisted of woodlots, shelter belts, and windbreaks. They planted the trees six feet apart to permit horse cultivation and ensure the trees grew tall and straight in competition with each other. In addition to Russian olive, they planted black locust and Siberian elm seedlings. A two-man crew could plant an acre of trees—1210—in a nine-hour day.
The trees were becoming popular enough in landscapes that gardeners exhibited Russian olive blossoms at the Western Idaho Fair in 1933. That same year, the 4-H forestry club in Burley planted trees supplied by the University of Idaho on the fairgrounds there.
The next year, the Idaho Statesman reported that tree planting was really taking off all over Southern Idaho. Farmers could obtain them for half price to plant as woodlots and windbreaks. The state forester was particularly enamored with one variety, saying, “The Russian olive is the most useful exotic tree for Idaho. They are drouth resistant, hardy and not molested by rodents to any great extent.” About 100,000 trees of many varieties were planted under the guidance of the University of Idaho’s agricultural extension division in 1934.
In 1937, the Statesman reported another use for Russian olives. Dean Frank Howard and Professor Paul Nash of the Albion State Normal School presented a gavel to the Rotary Club in Rupert hand-carved from a Russian olive tree on campus.
It was also in 1937 that Dr. A.B. Hatch of the school of forestry at the University of Idaho began experimenting with Russian olives as a food and shelter source for Chinese pheasants and Hungarian partridges. He was reporting success in getting the imported game birds to eat the berries of the imported trees.
The very next year the Bonneville County Sportsmen’s Association planted 2,000 Russian olives in and near Idaho Falls “to provide edible fruit” to game birds.
It was about this time that the Idaho Department of Fish and Game got into the business of supplying Russian olives to farmers and for public lands. The University of Idaho continued selling cheap seedlings and often giving them away with funding provided by the Clark-McNary Act.
The scale of the plantings increased into the 40s. In 1941, the Statesman reported that the Lake Lowell CCC camp had grown 650,000 trees for distribution in Southern Idaho, 30,000 of the Russian olives.
And on, and on.
It wasn’t until the 1980s and 90s that scientists began to look at the downside of Russian olives as an invasive species. The transition in thinking evolved in the late 20th Century, when broad agreement finally emerged that Russian olives were an undesirable, invasive species. Forty-six states, including Idaho, now consider them weeds or invasive.
To their credit, the University of Idaho and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, once the biggest promoters of Russian Olives, now encourage eradication.
So, what is wrong with this aromatic, pretty tree, once the darling of windbreaks and game-sheltering programs? The very thing that made them popular in the early years makes them a terrible nuisance today: They are fast-growing and adaptable to a variety of environmental conditions. They crowd out native plants and animals and impact insect diversity. They tend to grow in impenetrable thickets along riverbanks, limiting access for animals and people alike. Russian olives are a significant suck on water supplies in arid areas.
Once established, they are challenging to eradicate. My cousin, Debbie Reid Oleson, has drawn some attention for her successful efforts near Blackfoot. First, she cuts down the trees and burns the resulting pile. Then, she paints every stump with Roundup. Fresh shoots can also be controlled with Roundup, but you have to catch them right away. It can take years of this labor-intensive treatment to clear an area. Meanwhile, animals—mostly birds—spread Russian olive seeds back into the liberated areas every year.
Idaho’s history records the introduction of many invasive species, from cheat grass to starlings. Several, such as Russian olives, were introduced intentionally, an act later regretted.
Thorns are an unpleasant feature of Russian olives. I found one article stating that the thorny crown of Jesus was made from a Russian olive. This is unlikely in many ways, not the least of which is that the trees didn’t grow in the Holy Land 2,000 years ago.
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