Gearing up for the mushroom rush
The Flathead National Forest has signed off on its plans to manage a rush on morel mushrooms this summer, and other land managers are doing the same.
The Flathead Forest this week issued a decision notice outlining commercial harvest rules on the 24,700 acres of national forest lands burned by last summer's Brush Creek Fire west of Whitefish, and for forestwide rules for personal mushroom gathering.
"I think the region is expecting a great influx of commercial harvesters, including the Brush Creek area," Flathead spokeswoman Denise Germann said, referring to other burns across western Montana.
The wrinkly morel mushroom tends to emerge in abundance on burned Montana forestlands the spring after fires.
The Flathead Forest has considerable experience with morel harvests following busy fire seasons in 2001 and 2003.
"Past experience tells us we have to have some process here to prepare for it," Germann said. "It's a forest product that's removed from and we have a program for any products that are removed. And when there's a large harvest, that's a very profitable business."
Germann stressed that even personal-use mushroom pickers must obtain a free permit, available at all forest offices, to allow the forest to differentiate between commercial and personal pickers.
Personal-use harvesters are limited to five gallons of mushrooms per day or 20 gallons for the duration of the season, which is expected to begin in May and extend through July. Noncommercial mushrooms must be sliced lengthwise, thereby reducing their commercial value.
Personal-use permits are good for gathering mushrooms anywhere on the forest, including national forest lands burned by last summer's Skyland Fire near Marias Pass and from multiple burns in the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.
The Blackfeet Tribe has a policy that limits mushroom picking to tribal members only on reservation lands burned by the Skyland Fire.
Commercial harvesting, however, will be limited to the Brush Creek fire perimeter. Commercial permits eventually will be sold from a trailer in the parking lot of the new Tally Lake Ranger Station and forest office just south of Glacier High School.
The Flathead's plan includes food-storage rules that will be enforced at designated commercial harvest camps on the Tally Lake Ranger District. Translations on the food storage information will be available in Spanish, Cambodian, Hmong and Laotian.
Four commercial camps have been designated, most of them deep within the fire perimeter west of Star Meadow.
And the Flathead plan establishes two sites for mushroom buyers, who also must get permits from the forest.
Meanwhile, plans are being developed for commercial harvesting on the area burned by last summer's massive Chippy Creek Fire north of Plains. The fire burned about 100,000 acres on mixed ownerships.
Plum Creek Timber Co. plans to have a commercial mushroom permitting system for company lands in the Chippy Creek and Brush Creek fire areas. Those interested should call 751-2400. Permits are not necessary for personal use, which the company defines as less than two gallons or five pounds daily.
The company is urging mushroom pickers to respect gate closures. The company does not allow commercial harvesters to camp on Plum Creek lands.
The Lolo National Forest will sell commercial permits and issue free personal use permits for about 32,000 acres of national forest lands within the Chippy Creek perimeter. The Lolo will have a similar program for mushroom picking on about 4,500 acres of national forest lands that were burned by last summer's Jocko Lakes fire near Seeley Lake.
The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation will not issue mushroom harvest permits for nearly 2,500 acres of state lands within the Chippy Creek fire perimeter, said Bob Sandman, area manager for the department's Northwest Land Office.
However, Sandman said, mushroom pickers must obtain a state lands recreation use permit, available for $10 at DNRC offices.
The decision notice for the Flathead Forest's Brush Creek mushroom harvest and a map of the burned area is available on the forest Web site at:
http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/flathead
Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at jmann@dailyinterlake.com