Guidance for Foraging Wild Plants and Fungi

Transcript

[sound element: NSS intro theme]

HOST: You're listening to North Star Stories: Voices from Where We Live, a daily newscast about what it means to live in Minnesota.

ANCHOR: State regulations have left many confused about plants and fungi gathering. Then, police arrest a federal law enforcement employee as part of a sting. And, help for farmers left unpaid after a grain distribution company closes its doors.

I'm Gracie J.

Bloomington police arrested an Immigration and Customs Enforcement employee, saying he solicited sex from a 17-year-old during an undercover sting. According to a criminal complaint, 41-year-old Alexander Steven Back responded to an online prostitution ad in a Twin Cities suburb, and continued texting, even after learning the girl was underage. The Hennepin County Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. Back is free on bond and returns to court later this month.

Next, Interest in mushroom and wild plant gathering has surged in recent years. But the state's patchwork of rules has left many foragers confused about what's allowed. Xan Holston has more.

Xan Holston: In Minnesota, you need a permit to hunt and fish. Now, lawmakers are rethinking the rules that govern foraging mushrooms, berries and other wild plants on state managed land.

Senator Susan Pha: Right now, our policies are very restrictive.

Xan Holston: State Senator Susan Pha, who represents parts of the North Metro, is leading a task force looking at foraging along with the Department of Natural Resources, or DNR, naturalists, mycologists, tribal representatives and the general public.

Senator Susan Pha: Versus leaving it to just the DNR to do rule making around it without public input.

Xan Holston: Senator Pha said the task force was spurred by a growing interest among new foragers, as well as concerns about restrictive policies by those who've been gathering for years. The current rules aren't cohesive. State parks and forests, as well as other state-run sites, all have different regulations about what can be picked, ranging from nothing to very small amounts.

Senator Susan Pha: As a forager myself, I've always found that the state lacks a lot of information when it comes to foraging.

Xan Holston: While fishing and hunting have clear bag limits and online license portals, the process of getting a foraging permit to harvest plants at a state forest is out of date. Permits have to be purchased in person at the DNR forestry office closest to where you want to forage, paid by check or money order only.

Peter Martignacco: Then you need to fill out a form that says what you're going to harvest, where you're going to harvest, and how much you're going to harvest.

Xan Holston: Peter Martignacco is president of the Minnesota Mycological Society, and one of the task force members frustrated with the DNR's red tape. He said if you get a permit to harvest fiddlehead ferns, but come across some ramps, a type of wild onion, you can't pick them.

Peter Martignacco: You're not even allowed to have permits for both of them at the same time.

Xan Holston: Martignacco said wild plant permits were designed for commercial harvesters and amount to a practical ban on personal foraging. But the issues go beyond that.

Peter Martignacco: This is not just about foraging, it's also about public land access.

Xan Holston: Land access is especially important to tribal community members like Dakota and Ojibwe author and educator Tara Perron. She said DNR restrictions create barriers to teaching Indigenous children about their traditional medicine.

Tara Perron: That's hard to do when I have to say, "Oh, these are traditional to us and our people, but you can't touch that because maybe it's sprayed or it's illegal."

Xan Holston: Perron spoke at a recent task force listening session about why cultural practices need to be a part of the policy conversation.

Tara Perron: Being able to gift that to our young people and our elders is really important to me, and I will fight until my dying day to have that right.

Xan Holston: She hopes the task force will be a path toward more people connecting with the natural world while centering Indigenous voices and rights.

Tara Perron: It's spaces like this, to have these open conversations where we can really make headway for our future.

Xan Holston: The task force is hosting more public listening sessions in early December and plans to release its recommendations to the state legislature in late February. More information is available on the state legislative website. For North Star Stories, I'm Xan Holston.

Anchor: You are listening to North Star Stories.

The Minnesota Department of Agriculture is urging farmers who worked with Hansen-Mueller Company to file claims after the grain buyer declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy this month. The company, which operated in Duluth, helped farmers sell, transport, and process grain. Farmers who are owed money can submit a claim to the State's Department of Agriculture, while those holding warehouse receipts must contact the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The state says farmers should file a claim as soon as possible.

[sound element: NSS outro theme]

HOST: North Star Stories is produced by AMPERS, diverse radio for Minnesota's communities, with support from the McKnight Foundation and the State of Minnesota. Online at ampers dot org.