Maine considers bill to regulate food foraging on private property

There are few things in the catalog of human activity more whimsical than donning your woolen cape, slinging a basket over your arm, and going out into a misty morning to gather mushrooms from the peaty, sweet-smelling forest floor.

We know that mushroom foraging has a dark side. One New York man confessed to the Guardian that he foraged some harmless-looking white mushrooms and ate them sautéed in butter. Eight hours later, his body was rejecting what turned out to be a poisonous (often lethal) mushroom called the destroying angel. He spent three days in the hospital on the brink of death, but lived to tell the tale, unlike the other two people who ate destroying angels that year.

Property owners are often liable for certain dangers that befall trespassers on their property, but that’s not the only motivation driving a bill that would make it illegal to take any natural resource from private property without written approval. The wilds of Maine are full of blueberries, exotic mushrooms, tender fiddlehead ferns, goosetongue greens, wood sorrel and other delicacies irresistible to foragers. But according to Rep. Walter Kumiega of Deer Isle, Maine, foragers are thieves by another name. In a statement to the Kennebec Journal, he said, “If you don’t have permission to take it from somebody’s property, you’re stealing. That’s all there is to it.”

Maine has a long history of privately-owned land being used as a recreational commons — hunting, fishing, a dip in a swimming hole are often accepted activities in titled lands in the wilds of Maine.

Land owners often specify which kinds of outdoor recreation they allow on their land, and whether permission is required. View sign here.

Unlike a hike in the deep woods or a swim along the rugged coastline, foraging has the sheen of commerce. During Christmas, pine boughs are often gathered and sold to wreath-makers for a chunk of change. The proposed bill is based on an existing law that prohibits gathering of boughs from private property.

There’s at least one man making a seasonal living from the hidden bounties of Maine. Evan Strusinski gathers all sorts of woodland treats and FedExes them, wrapped in tissue, to restaurants in New York City. To Strusinski, and others like him, foraging is akin to treasure hunting. It involves, knowledge, skill, instinct, discovery and a bit of competition. But the thrill of breaking the law is hardly part of the romance of foraging.

If the bill passes, however, foragers may have to start considering themselves outlaws — and hope that they’ve gathered enough maitake mushrooms to cover the proposed fine of no less than $100.

Plucking a few handfuls of Maine blueberries may one day cost you a hundred dollar fine. Image by nightthree. Used under a Creative Commons license.

David Spahr, a mushroom forager and landowner, says that Maine already has trespassing laws and theft laws, and there’s no need for yet another regulation. He prefers the common courtesy of asking for permission.

Category: Property, Trespassing