The Forest Service has developed new rules to get a
handle on the Northwest’s booming mushroom industry. During the
last three years agency officials in Oregon and Washington have
seen violent conflicts break out among pickers, as well as damage
to forest lands (HCN, 6/28/93). Mike Rassbach, special forest
products coordinator for the region, says his office recently
instituted incidental permits for pickers harvesting on a limited
basis and free-use permits for harvesters who use mushrooms only
for personal consumption. Commercial permits will cost $10 a day to
pick all species, including matsutake, the Japanese delicacy which
can sell for $95 a pound. Rassbach says the new regulations will
allow forest supervisors to control harvests and discourage
confrontations over mushroom “turf.” Forests won’t have any say in
determining where money from the permits goes, however. All funds
will continue to go to the federal
Treasury.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Mushrooming business is curbed.
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