Minnesota foragers want some control over harvesting rules on state lands

Mistrustful of the Department of Natural Resources' oversight of mushroom hunting and berry picking, a group of Minnesota foragers has turned to the Legislature for creation of a new task force.

Their bill, recently introduced in the House Environment and Natural Resources Committee, would require the DNR to establish by September a statewide task force to develop “scientifically sound, data-driven recommendations” for foraging regulations on state lands.

Minnesota isn’t lawless when it comes to foraging, but DNR officials say the state’s smattering of existing rules isn’t adequate to address rising interest and participation in foraging. The agency has launched its own overhaul of foraging regulations with no timeline. The rebuilding effort is being tackled by an “internal working team,” and the agency says it will seek plenty of public input before making new rules.

“We want to make sure we are doing this right,” said Minnesota Parks and Trails Director Ann Pierce. “As part of this overall process we have plans to do the public engagement piece.”

When the task force bill was introduced at a hearing Feb. 27 at the Capitol, DNR Assistant Commissioner Bob Meier strongly rejected assertions that the agency doesn’t support foraging. Meier spoke against the creation of an outside task force, saying, “I view the bill as a solution in search of a problem.”

As proposed, the bill for a Minnesota Sustainable Foraging Task Force calls for heavy citizen involvement including botanists, food safety experts, researchers, tribal representatives and foraging advocacy groups like the nonprofit, mushroom-loving Minnesota Mycological Society. The proposed lineup also includes legislators and a single DNR representative “involved with managing public lands.”

The group isn’t against setting limits when overharvesting would jeopardize sustainability of some species, but members fear that regulations originating from the DNR would be too restrictive.

State Rep. Isaac Schultz, R-Morrison County, the bill’s author, said the push for a task force resulted from steps the DNR took in 2023 to set a bag limit for how many mushrooms people can gather from state parks. Preliminary discussion of limiting foragers to a gallon-sized container per day created a backlash that’s still reverberating. The DNR has pulled back from the process of setting such a rule.

St. Paul’s Alano Bergo, a James Beard Foundation award winner known as the “Forager Chef,” testified that the state shouldn’t set limits on foraging unless those limits are supported by science-based data. Gathering wild edibles is part of Minnesotans’ connection to public land and it helps build creativity and community, he said.

“You shouldn’t have to be a land baron in order to experience the bounty that our state land provides,” Bergo said at the hearing.

Tara Erickson, a promoter of the task force bill, said the DNR’s talk about a one-gallon limit for mushroom hunters and berry pickers in state parks was a random “stab.” Seasoned foragers stood up immediately and sought to get involved to block the idea, she said. But to their frustration, the process went nowhere and then fizzled out without much interaction between advocacy groups and the DNR, Erickson said.

Creating a task force to recommend science-based rules for sustainable foraging opens doors for citizen contributors she describes as “nature nerds.”

“With their skills and their knowledge, it’s really important to have them at the table,” Erickson said in an interview.

Peter Martignacco, president of the Minnesota Mycological Society, said the DNR is already throwing up roadblocks in an attempt to defeat the task force bill. For instance, he said, the agency has said the proposed group would be expensive to support, requiring the equivalent of two to three additional state employees.

“The DNR has tolerated foraging at best and mostly just ignored it,” Martignacco said.

He said the proposed task force would put forth “responsible, sustainable” recommendations for new regulations. Other duties would include producing educational materials and proposing a fair system of issuing permits to foragers.

For instance, all wild rice harvesters in Minnesota are now required to be licensed unless they are under 18 years of age and accompanied by a licensed harvester. The permitting fees help pay for the DNR’s wild rice management. Ricing season has defined dates and it’s illegal to harvest unripe, or “green,” rice.

Martignacco said he thinks that the DNR would be needlessly restrictive if left alone to develop regulations for activities like mushroom hunting and picking wild blueberries. Current rules say you don’t need a permit for mushrooms or berries unless it’s more than you and your household can consume in a week, he said. That’s unrealistic for families who typically pick gallons of extras to dehydrate, freeze or preserve in other ways, Martignacco said.

Besides, the annual harvest of mushrooms, berries and some other edibles is self-limiting based on availability, he said. “The forest only gives ya what it’s going to give ya,” Martignacco said.

Other partners in the effort to pass the task force bill include the Minnesota Conservation Federation, Minnesota Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and the Minnesota Foraging Alliance.

The House committee, headed by Rep. Josh Heintzeman, R-Nisswa, kept the bill alive by laying it over for possible inclusion in a broader omnibus bill. In the Senate, a companion task force bill is being carried by Sen. Susan Pha, DFL-St. Paul. In October, she helped arrange a foraging town hall with DNR officials in Brooklyn Park.

Pierce, of the DNR, said the agency’s study of foraging must incorporate the legalities of managing four different categories of public land: state parks, state forests, wildlife management areas and closely protected scientific and natural areas.

State park management, for instance, is guided by a law written to “protect and perpetuate extensive areas of the state” without impairment of natural phenomena for enjoyment of future generations. About 11 million people visit 235,000 acres of Minnesota state parks annually versus minimal visitation to more than 4 million acres of state forests.

Besides setting foraging regulations, Pierce said, the agency wants to develop a “one-stop shop” webpage where people can go for answers about harvesting everything from chokecherries to ginseng, maple syrup and ramp (an edible plant that’s a cross between onion and garlic).

“Right now it’s really hard to figure out what you can do,” she said.

Besides addressing foraging, the same internal DNR working group is considering regulations for pot smoking and other activities on state lands.

Pierce said new activities are always coming up for consideration. One issue is what to do about state park visitors who string up wires to walk on them.

“That’s why this process takes some time,” she said. “We are not just looking at harvesting and foraging.”

Pierce said the DNR will continue its work on foraging regulations and other rules even if the task force bill doesn’t pass. The agency hasn’t set any dates for receiving public comment, but the assortment of people who ultimately provide input could resemble the cast of experts chosen for the proposed task force, she said.