Your description sounds very much like Amelanchier alnifolia! We have them here in Idaho too! In fact, this plant grows almost everywhere in North America, just about every habitat, elevation, etc… of course most places, there usually are not huge concentrations of them (and not as tall as yours), but with some notable exceptions. This is a very versatile berry!

I was first introduced to them as a child in North Dakota, where they are called “June” berries… one of the first berries to ripen, usually in June, hence the name. In Idaho, most people call them “service” berries, or the slang, “sarvis” berries. In Canada, where they’ve had an active breeding and promotional program, they DO grow in HUGE patches. Called “Saskatoon” berries there, they are a major part of the weekend outdoor economy (like wild huckleberries in Idaho and Montana, or blueberries in Maine). I’ve also seen articles where these nutty little berries are called “Prairie” berries.

They make an outstanding pie, and actually, if you find the huckleberry crisp recipe on this web site, that was actually adapted from a June Berry Crisp recipe I got at a banquet in North Dakota during the Lewis & Clark Bicentennial Commemoration. There are one or two companies in Idaho that make jelly or syrup out of June/Service/Saskatoon berries and several in North Dakota and other points on the map.

If the “sarvis” berry plants are 20′ tall there, that means you offer a really good site… but not necessarily easy to pick, LOL. Most often shorter here, more commonly 5-10 feet in the sun, 10 -15 feet tall in partial to moderate shade.

I’ve seen this crazy species growing from the sagebrush lands of southern Idaho, through all the rich, mid-elevation forest zones of northern Idaho, to sub-alpine high elevation forests of central Idaho. An amazing species, and pretty good little berry.

Malcolm
“Mr. Huckleberry”