British Columbia says it won't rule out regulating wildlife Picking mushrooms It comes after an indigenous community said an increasing number of foragers were encroaching on their land, with one case involving threats of physical violence and intimidation.
The provincial government's response comes after the Skwlax te Secwepemculecw First Nation said areas devastated by last year's fires east of Adams Lake and Bush Creek are now full of morels, attracting collectors and putting new pressures on the fragile ecosystem.
“The problem and the damage is what they leave behind, the damage they cause by cutting down trees,” Chief James Toma said. “We are seeing wildlife being killed unnecessarily and they are under a lot of stress right now and they are very vulnerable.”
The British Columbia Ministry of Forestry said in a written statement that it will continue to “monitor the situation and may take steps in the future if circumstances indicate a change is needed.”
“Mushroom picking is something many people in British Columbia enjoy doing, and there is currently no permit requirement,” the statement said. “We are deeply concerned and everyone should be aware and respectful of the Indigenous territories they are on.”
“We are currently working with the Skwlāx Nation to monitor any activities that could have a negative impact on the environment.”
Mushroom experts say given the likely increase in the number and intensity of wildfires, and the fact that morels tend to grow directly on land within a year of a fire, it may be time for British Columbia to consider changes to the way mushroom harvesting is regulated in the province.
“The province has tried to address this issue before, but ultimately — there have been two instances that I’m familiar with, one of which I was involved in — they’ve backed away from any kind of regulation of the pickers or the buyers,” said Andy MacKinnon, a forest ecologist with the British Columbia Provincial Forestry Institute.
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“Personally I think the system is working pretty well. But if we're having a morel problem in the southern interior right now, maybe it's time to revisit the issue.”
McKinnon said there are a number of reasons why morels thrive on newly burned land, including the lack of shade from trees, more sunlight, warmer soil and nutrients in the ash left after a burn.
This means that as the number of wildfires increases in British Columbia, there could be more conflicts over morel picking, with different groups competing to harvest the crop in an unregulated environment, causing more crop desertification.
Last year, British Columbia had a record-breaking wildfire season, with 28,400 square kilometres of land burned by fire, tens of thousands of people forced to evacuate and hundreds of homes and buildings destroyed.
British Columbia Wildfire Management says dry conditions in parts of the province are leading to a heightened risk of “legacy fires” that smolder underground during the winter and can re-emerge in the spring and summer, with more than 100 such fires recorded in January.
One such ongoing fire is the out-of-control, 673-square-kilometre Patry Creek fire north of Fort Nelson, which was British Columbia’s largest wildfire as of Saturday.
“Climate change is expected to lead to warmer and drier summers, creating conditions that are more conducive to wildfires,” McKinnon said. “So we can expect that if wildfires increase in number, size and intensity as expected, we will see a corresponding increase in fire activity.”
Toma said reality had already set in for the village of Skwlax te Secwepemculecw, where residents were busy rebuilding after last year's wildfires when more foragers began arriving to pick morels.
He said one case even involved “an individual who felt entitled” to enter state land and that “some physical violence and intimidation” occurred, but he declined to comment further as the case had been reported to police.
“That was an example of us (thinking), ‘OK, now we need to do affirmative action,’ ” Toma said. “We decided, ‘OK, enough is enough, no one else should do anything.’ I do have guardians who are there right now, trying not to be confrontational but asking people to at least be respectful.”
Toma said setting up guards is not only to protect freshly burned land, but also to protect mushroom pickers themselves, because the terrain after wildfires can be treacherous and many pickers are “weekend warriors” who risk harming themselves.
He said while foragers must get permission from state officials before entering the land to pick morels, he is currently focused on working with the province to establish a “cooperative system” to ensure people's safety and environmental protection.
“Right now we’re still in the foundational stages, and we’re trying to build this working relationship that hopefully will last for our lifetimes,” Toma said. “… As the original stewards of this land, we want to gain stewardship of the watershed within our traditional territory.”
Online listings show fresh wild Canadian morels at around $30 per pound.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
