IFCAE Project:
Crescent Lake Wild Mushroom
Multi-Party Monitoring Project
| Timeframe: | Fall 2000 |
| Principal Investigator: | Ajit Krishnaswamy |
| Contractors: | Vern Oden, Kao Saechao |
| Volunteers: | Gloria Gibbs, Bill Gibbs |
| Funding Organizations: |
Jefferson Center, USDA Forest Service-Asian Community Liaison, Alliance of Forest Workers & Harvesters, Forest Community Research |
| Publications: | Final Report |
Project Overview:
In partnership with mushroom harvesters and local community volunteers, IFCAE helped local volunteers and
traveling mushroom harvesters implement a harvester-based mushroom monitoring and communication project between September 1 and October 31, 2000 in Crescent Lake Junction, Oregon. The project area is the site of the largest matsutake harvest in the United States, which in a good year attracts over 2500 harvesters.
The Crescent Lake pick has traditionally had minimal communication networks for harvester participation in campground or harvest management decisions. Participation at public meetings on wild mushroom harvesting sponsored by the US Forest Service has been limited primarily to European-American harvesters despite the fact the majority of harvesters who obtain permits for the area are Southeast Asian. Harvesters of all ethnic backgrounds have often been reluctant to speak in public forums for many reasons, including fear of offending buyers, fear of attracting unwanted attention from Forest Service law enforcement officials, and skepticism that the Forest Service will take their suggestions seriously. Through the use of harvester-monitors walking in the woods to speak to people in more private situations and through providing opportunities for harvesters to discuss their
concerns in informal campfire meetings, the project sought to overcome some of these barriers to participation during the fall 2000 harvesting season.
Discussions centered on issues related to mushroom and forest ecology, campgrounds, markets, relations between various groups, and incidents and fears of intimidation and violence. The project helped set into place a route of communication and discussion that was not controlled by the governmental agencies. Project participants worked with harvesters to figure out ways in which the various groups of harvesters prefer to participate in decisions about the mushroom harvest. The project was one of two pilot projects taking place in the 2000-2001 matsutake season. The other project was located in Cave Junction, Oregon, and served as the model for the Crescent Lake project.
Updated August 20, 2001.