War with the Russian Olive
Progress Photojournal
by Bill Wolverton



—  Before/After the Invasion of the Russian Olive  —



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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.






—  Before/After the Extermination of the Russian Olive  —



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Escalante River 1.8 miles below Neon Canyon, looking upstream.
(left\before)    August 30, 2007 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(right\after)   September 3, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.





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Escalante River 1.7 miles below Neon Canyon, looking upstream.
(left\before)   September 14, 2007 — Photo: Andrew Hromadka.
(right\after)    August 21, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.





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Escalante River 0.8 miles below Neon Canyon, looking upstream.
(left\before)    May 2, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(right\after)   September 5, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.

Work in progress at left. Note cuttings in the river and the standing dead trees that have been girdled in order to minimize the mess on the ground.





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Escalante River 0.8 miles below Neon Canyon, looking downstream.
(left\before)    April 30, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(right\after)   September 5, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.

These are taken in the foreground of the previous two, looking downriver on river left, which is the right side in the previous pair. The Russian Olive on the left bank in the left view was completely flattened by the huge flood of October 6, 2006 and was so full of debris that it was virtually impossible to work in, and the only way to cope with it was to set it on fire, which worked very, very well. The slash pile remaining in the view at right has since been burned also.





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Escalante River 0.5 miles below Neon Canyon.
(row 1: left\before)    October 3, 2007 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(row 1: right\after)   September 30, 2008 — Not quite finished with a mess waiting to wash away.
(row 2: left\before)   September 30, 2008 — Same as the right photo in previous row.
(row 2: right\after)   July 20, 2010 — Another look at the site after everything had washed away with willows and other plants coming back.






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Immediately below Neon Canyon, looking upstream towards the entrance to the canyon.
(left\before)    September 5, 2008 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(right\after)   July 6, 2010 — Photo: Bill Wolverton.





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





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





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0.5 miles above Choprock Canyon.
(left\before)    October 18, 2009 — Truly a frightful mess. Photo: Bill Wolverton.
(right\after)   October 16, 2010 — Russian Olives either gone or girdled and dying. Photo: Bill Wolverton.





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About 1.5 miles above Choprock Canyon, a huge tree knocked by the big flood of October 6, 2006.
(row 1)    October 2, 2010 — Two views of the tree which blocked half the river.
(row 2: left)   October 2, 2010 — Another view of the tree just before starting to work on it.
(row 2: right)   October 2, 2010 — Work in progress.
(row 3: left)   October 2, 2010 — All done, nothing left but the stumps and a big mess.
(row 3: right)   October 16, 2010 — Same spot after everything was washed away by the big flood of October 5-7, 2010.





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About 1.5 miles above Choprock Canyon, immediately upstream from the previous photo set.
(row 1)    October 2, 2010 — Two views of a Russian Olive to be cut down.
(row 2: left)    October 2, 2010 — Prior to being cut down.
(row 2: right)   October 16, 2010 — After the tree and debris was swept away by the big flood during October 5-7, 2010. All photos: Bill Wolverton.
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© 2003–2010 Bill Wolverton