Posted on 09/04/2016 3:23:17 PM PDT by Theoria
At a campground in northwestern Montana, 30 people are groggily gearing up for a day of mushroom picking.
Most are here because they want an excuse to get outside and taste some of Montana's more exotic wild mushrooms. But others, like Matt Zaitz from Kansas, are here to turn a profit.
"It's not easy work," Zaitz says. "It's tough."
Zaitz started picking mushrooms in the Midwest this spring and followed them north as the season progressed. He's now hunting morels in the Crown of the Continent region near Glacier National Park. At this point, Zaitz considers himself a professional.
"I realized that if I really went at what I was doing, that I could potentially earn and make a living," he says.
Zaitz can sell a pound of morel mushrooms for about $20. On a good day, which is by no means every day, Zaitz says he can bring in a harvest worth $500. He says there's potentially millions of dollars to be made off mushrooms in Western public lands, especially in burn zones the summer after a big wildfire.
For reasons scientists don't fully understand, morel mushrooms pop up in areas affected by fires. Some think it's because there's less competition from other plants. Others think fire fixes the soil or it has to do with temperature. A recent study by University of Montana forest ecology professor Andrew Larson concluded that forest fires in Yosemite National Park could produce more than a million morels per year.
Usually, the U.S. Forest Service offers a special license to pick morels for commercial use in burn zones. But this year, managers in Montana decided not to issue any commercial licenses. In fact, it's illegal to pick in burn zones in any of Montana's national forests. The ban is sending pickers like Zaitz underground.
"There's millions of dollars of mushrooms in the forest and they want to close that off," Zaitz says.
The FedMob thinks they own everything.
As soon as the Feds figure out how to get their grubby hands on some of the money changing hands, they will allow the picking to commence again.
Everyone simply wants to have fungi, and the gubment is raining on the parade.
They already did have their grubby hands on it. They charged for the license.
This could mushroom.
Not enough. They have to figure out a tax per pound. LOL
Bureaucrats are the scourge of civilization.
I search for them in the Cuyahoga Vally Park in the Spring. It’s not allowed though, so you gotta be careful!
March in the shenandoah valley will yield stunning morels. Soaked and rinsed then sauted with scrambled eggs is the best delicacy ever.
Clever
And in other “Shroom” news ....excerpt from sierracountyprospect.com....
During the second contact Sheriff Evans located over 3 pounds of dried Psilocybin mushrooms that the man had in his possession. He was arrested for the possession of the mushrooms around 4:00 p.m. He was identified as Robert Lyle Bennett, aged 57 years, of Bisbee, Arizona. Psilocybin mushrooms are commonly referred to as “magic mushrooms” and they produce a hallucinogenic state similar to Lysergic Acid Diethylamide (L.S.D.). The possession of any amount is a felony in the State of California and could result in imprisonment. The estimated street sales value of the illegal mushrooms seized is between $5,000 and $12,500 ($100 to $250 per ounce) depending on the “quality” and the “local demand”. The average amount of doses that were seized is between 1,417 and 283 (1 to 5 grams) depending on the individual. The magic mushrooms are often believed to have been used originally by Native Americans and more recently among attendees of “RAVE Parties” and other naturalistic festivals such as the “Burning Man” event held recently this month in the north/eastern Nevada desert. Checking with State and Federal agents, this is believed to be the greatest amount of the hallucinogenic mushrooms seized by law enforcement in California this year. A sample of the mushrooms has been sent to the California Department of Justice laboratory for complete analysis. The investigation of the break-ins and thefts of the post office boxes continues, with physical evidence being sent to a federal crime laboratory for comparison analysis by the postal inspectors for possible suspect positive identification. Mr. Bennett has not been charged with a crime related to the Sierraville Post Office case at this time. Affected post office box holders are recommended to watch for any signs of theft and/or identity theft.
I like ‘em pan-fried in butter, or even bacon grease. Without a doubt, the tastiest things I’ve ever eaten!
I need a second income,, ,
many years ago a person could go up into the woods and get about 2 cords of wood off of dead trees.....
it helped the forest stay healthy by removing extra fuel and it helped families heat their homes in winter....
of course then they slap a $10 fee on going in and getting some dead wood....
they'd rather see huge forest fires then let some poor schmuck get some wood for free...
but they're full of ants...I always read that you can't soak mushrooms..so getting them clean was a big job...I was killing ants all over the kitchen counter....
A lot of places here in Colorado’s National Forest land they won’t even issue a permit for a fee.
And yet our forest lands are tinder boxes due to beetle kill.
The government doesn’t like independence and initiative. They want everyone dependent on government and big corporations whom they control.
Only some #$#%&* Federal Bureaucrat would care if people are picking mushrooms off the ground.
Zaits sounds like a fun-guy.
Used to pick mushrooms in the woods of south central Pennsylvania when I was a kid. There’s nothing better than fresh picked mushrooms. I wouldn’t eat anything I picked though, unless my dad looked at them first - there’s way more bad ones than good.
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