Presenter(s): Becca Marshall − Environmental Studies
Faculty Mentor(s): Kathryn Lynch
Oral Session 1SW
Research Area: Social Science
Funding: Humanities Undergraduate Research Fellowship
This research examines the extent Willamette National Forest’s management of commercial, wild mushrooms incorporates environmental justice principles. In Oregon, the edible, wild mushroom industry contributes to a significant portion of the economy, and thousands of harvesters are out picking (Schlosser and Blatner, 1995) The diverse group of people out picking these mushrooms—commercial, wild mushroom harvesters—live on the fringes of society, are highly mobile, politically weak and largely understudied (Arora, 1999; McLain, 2002). Forest Service lands make up a large swath of the land harvesters pick on in Oregon. And the Forest Service, along with other federal agencies, has to make environmental justice part of its mission—the meaningful involvement and fair treatment of all people in policy decisions. Yet, the voices of the harvesters are missing in public planning processes that impact decisions made on the forest and there has been little investment in managing lands for mushrooms along with little research, inventory or basic monitoring by forest managers. For my research, I interviewed harvesters and land managers, and reviewed the Willamette National Forest’s natural resource documents for how they manage for wild mushrooms. Themes that emerged include a minimal consideration of the mushrooms and the wild mushroom industry, restricting harvesters’ access to the forest, and a focus on managing for timber. All of this suggests an undue burden placed on harvesters because the Willamette NF is not managing for mushrooms. I conclude that the Willamette NF cannot manage the forest in an environmentally just way if they do not consider the commercial, wild mushroom industry and work to involve the harvesters in management decisions.