The Guerrilla Gatherers

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Beyond conflicts between harvesters are a number of less obvious issues, most of them environmental. To many pickers, mushrooms are the ultimate renewable resource. Picking them seems no harder on an ecosystem than gathering wild berries. But according to an influential USDA study, those mushrooms are at work spreading spores to reproduce underground fungi networks that ensure the health of Northwest forests. Beneath the forest floor, fungi pierce the roots of trees and receive carbon from them; in return, they help the trees absorb nutrients while protecting them from drought and disease. Mushrooms also feed small rodents, including the voles and flying squirrels that are favored by endangered species like the northern spotted owl. Naturalists are working to determine what impact new human traffic could have on forests.

The expanding market for herbal medicines has threatened a number of healing plants, including echinacea, osha, and especially goldenseal. Over 60 million goldenseal plants were harvested by wildcrafters in 1994 alone. I see great potential in this example of alternative forest labor -- mushroom pickers and herb harvesters are a big improvement over tree cutters -- and I have high hopes that this emerging industry will learn the lessons of restraint. But this evolution will not come easily, for in the logic of our national economy it makes no sense to voluntarily limit profits. Problems will intensify so long as industrial capitalism, with its appetite for perpetual growth, ignores its dependence on the economy of nature, which operates much closer to a subsistence level.

For more than 10 years, Whole Terrain has informed, enlightened, and inspired its readers with its refreshing explorations of ecology and social issues. Treating themes that range from 'serious play' to 'creative collaboration,' the journal is a trusted companion for activists of all stripes. Subscriptions: $7/yr. (1 issue) from 40 Avon St., Keene, NH 03431.

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