Are you ready for bag limits on foraging?

http://www.outdoornews.com/2023/07/22/minnesota-dnr-looks-at-first-ever-mushroom-berry-bag-limits-for-state-parks/

St. Paul — The Minnesota DNR has began a rule-making process to potentially have its first-ever daily limit on wild mushroom and berry picking at state parks. The agency says the current regulations are vague and can be interpreted differently to anyone, so the DNR believes new rules would give clarification.

Ann Pierce, the DNR’s Parks and Trails Division director, said state parks have seen an increase in forage harvesters. Also, there’s a worry that overharvesting could affect the wildlife that depend on wild mushrooms and berries as well as the soil health.

“We’re in the process of reviewing the rules and checking for things like where there is a limit, but it’s not really well-defined,” Pierce said. “What does personal use mean? It’s not very well-defined.”

The current regulation for state park plant harvesting is an individual may collect a small number of wild mushrooms, berries, or cones for personal use. There’s no quantity amount in the current rules, and adding a daily limit could help put everyone on the same page.

Minnesota state parks have seen an increase in forage harvesters, with morel mushrooms being a popular item most are looking for. (Photo by Tom Giese)
During the past few years, Pierce said, they’ve seen groups of 80 people come to state parks and harvest mushrooms and berries in the forest area. The DNR must look at a couple key components to determine whether a new regulation needs to be set.

First, the DNR must be able to manage the system well. Second, the harvesting in state parks must not affect the resources at the park like wildlife or soil.

“Just the impacts to the system itself,” Pierce said. “So, there are the mushrooms or berries, but also if those are being overharvested, there’s an impact to that broader system whether it’s the wildlife using it or even the soil resources.”

Pierce said the DNR just started the rule-making process, and it plans to meet with the Minnesota Mycological Society in a couple of weeks. After talking to their representatives, the DNR will create an initial proposal.

Then, Pierce said, the DNR plans to have a period of public comment either at the beginning of 2024 or later next spring.

Once the comment period is completed, the DNR will publish its final regulation by the end of 2024 or early 2025.

“We’re looking at a small amount of land that when the (state) parks system was created, obviously had some specific ideas about what the purpose of (mushrooms and berries) were,” Pierce said. “So that’s where we’re looking at this and making sure that we’re fulfilling that purpose that they were initially created for.”

3Rivers wrote:

they’ve seen groups of 80 people come to state parks and harvest mushrooms and berries in the forest area.

Had no idea that many people got together to “forage.”

All for it. It’s needed. If the foraging was just for personal use, no problem. But these “foragers” are selling to/at farmers markets, restaurants and even on-line.

Edit – 5 years ago we had vast areas of ferns in my local park No more. Certain foragers snip off the fronds as soon as they sprout. Basically killing the fern before it gets a start. This activity certainly needs regulation.

-J.

Jon is spot on.

A lot of the people doing it are in it for the money. It’s not uncommon for people to make a living off of natural resources (commercial fisherman, charters, fishing guides, private ranches, hunting outfitters, etc), but they must abide by bag limits. I see nothing wrong with limits on commercial foraging in hard hit State Parks if it’s really affecting habitat.

My family is in it for the food, in fact we just did a little foraging in Jay Cooke State Park on Sunday during a quick hike (the lobsters in the pic were too old, but we found some fresher ones)

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I morel hunt regularly. That and blackcaps are really all I target. I do probably take ~10 gallons of blackcaps a year off our 40 by the house. I harvest 15-20# a year of morels off our hunting land. I’d say comfortably that on that 120 acre piece I’m walking maybe 1/2 of it, and often don’t try once the undergrowth is up. There are probably a thousand morels that pop and die each year there with nobody besides me walking it. Private land foraging is substantially better like almost anything else involving harvest.

A bag limit seems crazy, but if you multiply out my take by dozens in some parks and I could see where it’d alter the landscape.

Enforcing any sort of foraging limit is going to be nearly impossible unless you physically catch people over the limit in the woods.

I’m guessing the first regulation put on foraging will be a license and fee. Really surprised there isn’t one yet.

Mike W wrote:

I’m guessing the first regulation put on foraging will be a license and fee. Really surprised there isn’t one yet.

There’s one on wild rice.

Whole lot of ‘ifs’ in that article. But of course they’ve established that rules are needed lol

Personally I’m fine with it should the science say necessary.

There is a spot on public hunting land not to far from my house that every year had about a 2 acre hill side that was solid ramps/leeks whatever you wanna call them. For years there was a certain few of us that would go there and dig some up. After we all took what we wanted you couldnt even tell we had been there. About 3 years ago I went to get some for my neighbors who are getting past the age to do so themselves and it looked like someone came through with an excavator. Everything gone. Couldnt even leave the little stuff to keep the patch going. Thats about the worst case of ashhole greed I have ever seen. Guarantee most of them got wasted. It would have been thousands.

FishBlood&RiverMud wrote:

Personally I’m fine with it should the science say necessary.

I was channel surfing the radio the other day and a story came on about this. some guy said he represents some mushroom organization which is the 2nd oldest mushroom organization in the world and is recognized as leading experts in the field of mushroom science. He said for the first time in some 40 years the DNR is blocking them from being involved in this decision when prior to that the mushroom organization would be consulted on all manner of things because the DNR doesnt know squat about mushrooms and foraging. To clarify this was a science based organization so a bunch of biologists and whatnot. Long story short – at least according to that report – science isnt jsut being ignored but actively being removed from the decision making process

crappie55369 wrote:

science isnt jsut being ignored but actively being removed from the decision making process

Unfortunately this is too true and follow the money.

State Parks, no problem. State and County land, will not comply.

JEREMY wrote:

There is a spot on public hunting land not to far from my house that every year had about a 2 acre hill side that was solid ramps/leeks whatever you wanna call them. For years there was a certain few of us that would go there and dig some up. After we all took what we wanted you couldnt even tell we had been there. About 3 years ago I went to get some for my neighbors who are getting past the age to do so themselves and it looked like someone came through with an excavator. Everything gone. Couldnt even leave the little stuff to keep the patch going. Thats about the worst case of ashhole greed I have ever seen. Guarantee most of them got wasted. It would have been thousands.

Are you sure it was manually done by civilians? The public hunting land between us is going on year 4 of USFWS tilling up and mowing down huge portions (hundreds of acres) of it to make sure the WMA has the right mix of natural wild flowers…which boggles my mind as it goes from full of wildlife to devoid of it afterwards every year. I’ve spoken to them a bunch about it, and still doesn’t make sense to me, but I also don’t have the right degrees and only walk thru it almost daily.

Definitely people this is a huge hillside in a big woods. No trees or logs touched just the onions.

I’ve spent >100 hrs on the water this summer and have yet to be checked by a warden.

You can make all the laws you want, means nothing when you can’t enforce them. Normally Id make the argument “oh this is just a revenue grab by the state agency” but I can’t imagine anyone comes out ahead putting regulations on fungi.

crappie55369 wrote:

I was channel surfing the radio the other day and a story came on about this. some guy said he represents some mushroom organization which is the 2nd oldest mushroom organization in the world and is recognized as leading experts in the field of mushroom science. He said for the first time in some 40 years the DNR is blocking them from being involved in this decision when prior to that the mushroom organization would be consulted on all manner of things because the DNR doesnt know squat about mushrooms and foraging. To clarify this was a science based organization so a bunch of biologists and whatnot. Long story short – at least according to that report – science isnt jsut being ignored but actively being removed from the decision making process

What about this part of the article?

“Pierce said the DNR just started the rule-making process, and it plans to meet with the Minnesota Mycological Society in a couple of weeks. After talking to their representatives, the DNR will create an initial proposal.”

Wisconsin has a Ginseng harvesting law that you need a $15 Resident permit to harvest any, even on your private land. I believe non-residents are not allowed to pick any at all.