Mushroom Harvesting in the Mid-Atlantic Region of the United States: Policy, Practices, and Place
Open Access
- Author:
- Wrobleski, Amy
- Graduate Program:
- Ecology
- Degree:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Document Type:
- Dissertation
- Date of Defense:
- April 03, 2024
- Committee Members:
- Jason Kaye, Program Head/Chair
Mary Shenk, Outside Unit Member
Sagan Friant, Major Field Member
John Pecchia, Outside Field Member
Eric Burkhart, Chair & Dissertation Advisor - Keywords:
- Mushroom Harvesting
Mushroom Hunting
Mushroom
Foraging
COVID-19
Social Media
Policy
Public Lands
Community Science - Abstract:
- Wild harvesting is the collection of plants or mushrooms for the purposes of food, medicine, economics, and deeper cultural practices. In the United States, wild harvesting is not a primary subsistence strategy, but is important to many regional and cultural traditions. For mushrooms specifically, harvesting has been a cultural cornerstone in the form of festivals, community groups, social media, and family traditions; as well as a growing wild mushroom industry. However, mushroom harvesting in the eastern United States has not been frequently studied, despite a thriving culture that has gained increasing public visibility in recent years. The Mid-Atlantic in particular is a region that as a rich history of mushroom harvesting. This region includes: Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, Maryland, Virginia, New York, West Virginia, and North Carolina. This region was selected as a study area as it encompasses a wide variety of urban and rural areas, as well as forested and conserved land, and known mushroom harvesting communities. As mushroom harvesting has become more prevalent in the region, questions have been raised surrounding what species harvesters collect, their concerns for the future, and what may be driving this perceived increase in mushroom harvesters. This dissertation used a combination of a survey instrument, distributed through a purposive sampling method, as well as Key Informant interviews beginning in the spring of 2022 and concluding in the fall of 2023. Responses were analyzed in R and Microsoft Excel for quantitative data and NVivo 14 for qualitative data analysis. Additionally, respondents expressed concern over mushroom harvesting regulations in the United States, and in response content analysis was conducted on government documents, such as the National Park’s Service’s Superintendent’s compendium, to analyze the challenges that harvesters face when harvesting on public lands. Data from the content analysis was categorized in Microsoft Excel and analyzed in R, with maps being created in ArcGIS Pro. In the first chapter, the themes of harvester concerns surrounding access to public land, the conservation concerns for wild mushrooms, and the potential for mushroom overharvesting are explored. Using grounded theory, federal and state documents that included laws, park records, and community resources were reviewed and analyzed for key themes surrounding mushroom harvester access on public lands. Regulations surrounding mushroom harvesting on public lands were found to be inconsistent and at times did not clearly communicate the legality of mushroom harvesting to the public. There were differences in legal access for personal harvesting, harvesting mushrooms for personal use, and commercial harvest, harvesting mushrooms to sell. Typically, commercial harvesting was more heavily restricted on public lands than personal harvesting, but exact rules and regulations varied from state to state. These regulations could be improved through clearer communication, through clear guidelines on websites and in offices, and connecting directly with harvesters through classes, workshops, and societies. Additionally, this chapter offers suggestions for land managers and policy makers that will help to both protect mushroom populations while also ensuring harvesters have access to public lands. The second chapter examines how mushroom harvesters generate local ecological knowledge (LEK) and how this is reflected in their harvesting practices. Data includes survey responses as well as KI informant interviews, and was analyzed in R and using grounded theory in NVivo 14. Mushroom harvesters reported to harvest or interact with a variety of mushrooms with 84 genera and 160 species represented. The twenty most used species were either edible or medicinal. Harvesting patterns reflected the seasonality, or phenology, of mushrooms in the Mid-Atlantic. Harvesters also indicated that they frequently harvested in ways to promote the growth of existing mushroom patches and to spread mushroom spores to new areas. These behaviors constituted LEK about mushrooms in the region, with some harvesters even participating in direct conservation actions and activities to promote mushroom diversity. The third and final chapter examines how harvesters in the Mid-Atlantic use mushroom harvesting as a way to mitigate uncertainty, and how recent events leading to social and economic upheaval may be a driving factor in an increase in the number of people harvesting mushrooms in the region. Data for this chapter include survey responses and KI informant interviews analyzed in R and NVivo 14. Mushroom harvester demographic data showed that there was both a perceived and actual increase in the number of people harvesting. This growth began in the early 2000s, with rapid increases between 2017 and 2022, despite a long-held aversion to wild mushrooms in the United States. Participants became interested in mushroom harvesting by engaging with harvesting communities on social media, outdoor activities, an interest in the natural world, and to cope with uncertainty. Harvesters described mushroom harvesting in ways that improved their overall wellbeing and to buffer the impacts of stress and uncertainty, and as a result created a deeper connection to place within the region. Overall, mushroom harvesting in the Mid-Atlantic was found to be carried out by a diverse group of individuals who were interested in a large variety of species. While there are a variety of land-types in the region, public land access was particularly important to these communities and their harvesting practices. Mushroom harvesting allowed people to develop both local ecological knowledge (LEK) and a connection to place within the Mid-Atlantic. Despite this LEK, mushroom harvesters are often overlooked as an important group for collaboration on conservation and mycological projects. This dissertation found that many harvesters were working to preserve healthy mushroom populations for the future, without the support of conventional conservation resources or technical expertise. Future collaboration between mushroom harvesters in the Mid-Atlantic with land managers and professional mycologists could lead to improved community engagement as well as conservation outcomes for wild mushroom populations.