By Cathy Wurzer and Gracie Stockton Mushroom hunters and berry pickers are worried that the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources could curtail their foraging on state lands. The DNR is considering bag limits on how much food people can take from state-managed lands. Right now, that proposal is a one-gallon maximum for foraging in state parks. Ann Pierce, director of the state parks and trails division, told MPR News the DNR’s goal is to balance public needs with statutory responsibility. In practice, that’s allowing “personal use harvesting, while considering the volume of visitors and ensuring access to fruits, berries, and mushrooms for all users including foragers and non-consumptive users such as photographers without overwhelming the area.” That gallon limit is ringing alarm bells for foraging groups like the Minnesota Mycological Society. “Many of the mushrooms that we forage for simply do not fit into a gallon bag,” Tara Erickson, a hobby forager, said. “You can find maitake, which are called hen of the woods. And I mean, I found a couple on just our house, our property here in Stillwater, and it was over 20 pounds.” Erickson was a lobbyist at the state Capitol for more than two decades, mostly for health care. She recently moved onto a different career path, starting her own PR company, Erickson Public Affairs. However, when she heard about the potential foraging limits, she took up the torch on behalf of the Minnesota Mycological Society in early 2023. The society and other interest groups were able to get a meeting with the DNR in August 2023, but Erickson said they’ve been generally unable to offer input on new rules. There was another meeting in May and a town hall in October. This year, there is a pair of state bills to establish a task force so that everyone can get a seat at the table. Erickson, the Minnesota Mycological Society, the Sioux Chef Sean Sherman, the Forager Chef Alan Bergo, Morels & Memories, the Minnesota Conservation Federation, Friends of Minnesota Scientific & Natural Areas, the Minnesota Native Plant Society and Pollinator Friendly Alliance are among those who’ve testified in support of SF 1464, establishing the Minnesota Sustainable Foraging Task Force. “We support a public process and engagement regarding foraging on state-managed lands and we want to make sure all users are represented in this process including the nonforaging users,” Pierce said. Under the Senate bill, the task force would include two representatives from both the House and Senate, two members of the Minnesota Mycological Society, two members of the Minnesota Foraging Alliance, two scientists, one member from both the Ojibwe and Dakota tribes, two appointees from the University of Minnesota Extension and three members from the DNR. “I think people need to understand that the mushroom is actually the fruit. It’s like picking the apple from an apple tree. And so there are many studies from around the world that just show that that doesn’t affect or hurt the environment at all,” Erickson said. “I think that there should be rules on how many people maybe go at once, and all of that could be worked out in the task force. And we just really would hope for a transparent process.” The bill gets a hearing in the Senate State and Local Government Committee at 12:30 on Thursday. Erickson will again be testifying, along with the president of the Minnesota Mycological Society. The House laid their version of the legislation, which differs slightly, for possible inclusion in an omnibus bill. The post Foragers want a seat at the rulemaking table as DNR mulls mushroom, berry bag limits appeared first on Austin Daily Herald. ...read more read less