Russian Olive Removal in Wyoming: Plan, Rules, Cost

Russian olive was once planted on purpose in Wyoming shelterbelts and erosion plantings because it stands up to harsh conditions, and it has spread well past the rows it was planted in.

Getting rid of Russian olive for good takes three things: clearing the trees, a licensed applicator’s treatment of the stumps or the sprouts that follow, and checks over the next few seasons. Clearing scattered Russian olive from a windbreak row, fence line or draw edge typically costs $1,500 to $2,500 an acre.

Wyoming’s Noxious Weed Listing and the Old Windbreak Trees

It is a state designated noxious weed. Russian olive is a state designated noxious weed in Wyoming, and the listing made selling the trees illegal, so it is no longer sold for shelterbelts or erosion control.

It is listed under W.S. 11-5-102 beside salt cedar on Laramie County Weed and Pest’s noxious weed list.

Your county weed and pest district is the local authority on noxious weeds, and the place to ask about anything on your land you are unsure of before the work is planned.

How to Recognize It

Russian olive grows up to 35 feet tall with scaly bark, thorns and silvery-green leaves set alternately along the stems. In a mixed windbreak, the silvery leaves and the thorns set it apart from the trees around it.

How Russian Olive Moves Through Draws and Shelterbelts

It is prolific in drainages, riparian areas and wetlands, and it grows on many soils, especially coarser sandy and loamy ground. Waterfowl and other wildlife often eat its berries.

Because it was planted for decades in shelterbelts and erosion plantings, Russian olive is found in rows on farms and acreage lots as well as along creeks and rivers. Left alone along a river, it can line the banks so thickly that landowners can no longer see or reach the water.

Once it takes hold, the costs show up in three ways:

• It crowds out native shrubs and trees. It displaces buffaloberry, golden currant, chokecherries and cottonwood.
• It shades out the ground layer. Its dense growth suppresses the grasses and forbs below it, which reduces both plant and wildlife diversity.
• It uses water. Solid stands of Russian olive consume large amounts of water and offer little habitat variety.

Why Grinding It Once Is Not the End

The usual disappointment is a row taken out in a day and a ring of green shoots around every stump the next summer. Why it happens decides how the job should be planned.

Mastication, which is what a forestry mulcher does, reduces the trees to mulch in one pass. Resprouting afterward is often extensive and can require many years of herbicide work. Treating the stumps immediately is rarely an option on a mastication job: the machine is dangerous to be near, and by the time it is safe for an applicator to approach, the stump has sealed over and the best window for treatment has passed.

Cut stump work fells the trees with a saw and treats each stump with herbicide right away. It results in less regrowth and less follow-up, though it takes more labor, because the cut material still has to be removed or processed.

Neither method is wrong. On a thicket filling a draw, sawing and treating stump by stump is slow, heavy work, and mastication with planned follow-up is usually the practical route. A windbreak row with a handful of Russian olive among other trees is often better cut and treated the same day. Soil disturbance from heavy equipment is typically not noticeable after about a year.

A Wyoming Removal Plan, Visit by Visit

1. Find every tree and mark the keepers. Walk the rows, the fence lines and any draw on the property, and flag the cottonwoods, chokecherries or other trees you want left. If you are not sure a tree is Russian olive, your county weed and pest district can tell you.
2. Pick the method for each stand. Scattered trees in a row suit cut stump work; a solid thicket suits mastication with follow-up. A property can have both.
3. Line up the applicator. Any herbicide belongs to a licensed applicator, arranged by you and following the label; our crew does not apply herbicide. Herbicide works best in fall, when the trees are pulling carbohydrates into their roots, so late summer and fall make sense for the clearing too.
4. Clear the trees. Our crew mulches the stand or fells the marked trees, grinds the wood on site and works around every flagged tree. Nothing is piled, so there is nothing to burn.
5. Treat on schedule. Cut stumps are treated the same day. On a mulched stand, the applicator treats the sprouts once they come.
6. Check back and replant. Walk the ground each season for sprouts and seedlings. A masticated stand usually needs its regrowth sprayed for several years before native trees and shrubs are planted.

Pro tip: If you are replacing a windbreak, plan the new row before the old one comes out. Clearing and replanting in the same season keeps the lot from sitting open to the wind for longer than it has to.

What Russian Olive Removal Costs

Scattered Russian olive in a windbreak row, along a fence line or at the edge of a draw, worked around the trees you keep, typically costs $1,500 to $2,500 an acre, the windbreak and fence line row on our Ranchettes pricing page. A single row is priced as the share of an acre it covers. A dense thicket filling a draw or a creek bottom falls in the $1,500 to $4,000 forestry mulching band, and clearing a whole parcel to an agreed finish can run to $4,500.

Russian olive work	Cost	Notes
Trees in a windbreak row or along a fence	$1,500 – $2,500 per acre	A row priced by the area it covers
Dense thicket in a draw or creek bottom	$1,500 – $4,000 per acre	The forestry mulching band
One short row or a few trees	Minimum charge of about $1,500	Where small jobs start; charged in place of an acre rate, never added to one
A return visit to cut sprouts	Priced per visit	A separate line; you decide whether to book it
Stump and sprout treatment	Priced by the applicator	Herbicide is the applicator’s work, not ours

On every visit, Russian olive, brush, small trees and stumps become mulch on site, stumps finish flush with the ground and nothing is hauled away. Full stump removal below grade, and cutting and hauling very large trees, are discussed and priced in the quote. Grading and build pads are not part of our price: we clear to the ground so a builder can grade.

Stand density, the trees we work around, access and how far apart the patches are decide where a job falls in its band. Our Ranchettes forestry mulching cost guide compares what mulching and cut stump work add to the bill over the following years.

Russian Olive in Southeast Wyoming and Beyond

Ranchettes, Cheyenne and Laramie County. Russian olive in a windbreak or draw needs a plan for the root sprouts that follow clearing. Laramie County Weed and Pest, at 801 Muddy Creek Drive in Pine Bluffs, handles weed questions in the county. Our Ranchettes land clearing page covers the towns from Pine Bluffs to Laramie, WY and the county’s permit and burning rules.

Goshen and Platte counties. Plan clearing around access, the trees you are keeping and the follow-up treatment. LaGrange, WY, in southern Goshen County, is part of the Ranchettes service area.

The Bighorn Basin and Fremont County. Park, Big Horn and Fremont counties carry the most Russian olive in the state. Ask your county weed and pest district what help, if any, is offered now.

Elsewhere in Wyoming. The method holds anywhere: clear, treat, check. Burning rules, stormwater permits and prices across the state are in our Wyoming land clearing cost guide.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I still buy Russian olive trees in Wyoming?

No. It is a state designated noxious weed, and that listing made selling the trees illegal.

Does a forestry mulcher kill Russian olive?

It brings the trees down, but the roots survive. Resprouting after mastication is often extensive, so a licensed applicator’s follow-up is part of the plan.

When is the best time to clear Russian olive in Wyoming?

Late summer into fall. Herbicide works best in fall, so clearing then lets the applicator treat stumps or early sprouts in the same window.

How much does Russian olive removal cost in Wyoming?

Scattered trees in rows and along fences run $1,500 to $2,500 an acre, and a dense draw thicket $1,500 to $4,000. Small jobs begin at the minimum charge of about $1,500, and stump treatment is priced by the applicator.

Get Russian Olive Off Your Land

Request a free quote and we’ll contact you to discuss your property, access and the clearing you need. The quote treats Russian olive as work over several seasons: the clearing and any return visit are priced as separate lines.