Since the Forest Service Continually Mismanages the Forests, Wild mushrooms entice smugglers to fire-ravaged California forest

American Truffles

The problems with fires and wildlife in the National Forests and National Parks can be traced directly to the  bad programs and policies invented by cranks at the Interior Dept., maybe letting in some mushroom harvesters will improve the situation. It can't hurt. m/r

Wild mushrooms entice smugglers to fire-ravaged California forest - Yahoo News

By By Mary Papenfuss  6-6-14

GROVELAND Calif. (Reuters) - Smugglers in northern California’s fire-ravaged Stanislaus National Forest are sneaking out pricey contraband - not marijuana this time, but a favorite delicacy of foodies: the luscious morel mushroom.  

Despite a record “flush,” or bloom, of the tasty, wild fungi, mushroom hunters are banned from the forest because officials believe that scorched, unstable tree trunks, eroded soil and logging operations after last August’s massive Rim Fire have made the area too dangerous.

That means as much as $40 million in a bumper crop of morels — ironically sparked by the same fire that is blocking hunters — is rotting in the woods west of Yosemite Park.

“It’s a shame to let those morels go to waste,” said Curt Haney, president of the San Francisco Mycological Association, who doesn’t believe conditions are any more dangerous than in other, less productive, burn areas where gatherers have access.

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