By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, National Observer

Jordon Gabriel is trying to manage who harvests wild mushrooms on the Lil虛wat First NationB次元官网网址檚 lands. Wild mushrooms, berries and other non-timber forest resources growing in the understory of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 forests have largely been ignored in the provincial governmentB次元官网网址檚 forest management decisions.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a regulatory gap that some First Nations in the province have been stepping in to fill B次元官网网址� a move both highlighting the value of forests beyond the trees and increasing First NationsB次元官网网址� jurisdiction over their land.

Nor is the Lil虛wat First Nation alone. Several First Nations across B.C. and the Yukon have started to regulate who can harvest wild foods from their lands, especially for commercial use. ItB次元官网网址檚 a big shift, particularly compared to the provinceB次元官网网址檚 current laissez-faire approach that lets anyone harvest anywhere on Crown land, which is about 94 per cent of the province.

B次元官网网址淲hen we look at managing the forest in our forestry department, we look at it sustainably,B次元官网网址� said Klay Tindall, a colleague of GabrielB次元官网网址檚 at Lil虛wat Forestry Ventures. B次元官网网址淲e look at what inventories of wood are out there, what we can log and what weB次元官网网址檙e keeping behind. We donB次元官网网址檛 feel like thatB次元官网网址檚 being done with some of the other resources out there, specifically these botanical resources.B次元官网网址�

B.C.B次元官网网址檚 forests have historically been managed almost exclusively for timber, the root of the provinceB次元官网网址檚 $30-billion forestry industry. ThatB次元官网网址檚 left non-timber forest resources such as wild mushrooms and berries, and the understory ecosystems that support them, largely sidelined in forest management decisions.

And that has left a data dark hole when it comes to non-timber forest resources, making it difficult to get a sense of the industryB次元官网网址檚 scale. A 2010 study found that between 1995 and 2005, roughly $3.5 million worth of chanterelle mushrooms were exported to Europe annually. Other researchers noted that between 2000 and 2003, about $20 million worth of pine mushrooms, or matsutake, were sent to Japan each year. And a third team found that B.C.B次元官网网址檚 Kootenay Boundary huckleberry harvest is worth between $91,000 and $685,000.

B次元官网网址淲e donB次元官网网址檛 necessarily know where the mushrooms grow, how old the stands need to be, those types of things. (And) itB次元官网网址檚 really hard to develop a mushroom strategy without knowing the proper inventories,B次元官网网址� Tindall said.

ItB次元官网网址檚 a knowledge gap the nation is working to fill, in part to provide baseline data for a planned permitting system for commercial and recreational harvesters on their land.

B次元官网网址淵ouB次元官网网址檝e got more and more people tramping around, youB次元官网网址檝e got First Nations where this is an economic driver, and some First Nations now have gone out and (established) mushroom permits,B次元官网网址� said William Nikolakis, a lawyer specializing in Aboriginal and natural resource law and a professor at the University of British Columbia. He has worked closely with the TsilhqotB次元官网网址檌n National Government, which established a wild mushroom harvesting permit in 2018.

B次元官网网址淔irst Nations have their own set of laws and rules and norms around how to manage non-timber forest (resources) as well as forests. The Crown is also asserting, in B.C., their own laws and sovereignty over non-timber forest products and forest products. So youB次元官网网址檝e got this clash of laws,B次元官网网址� he explained.

So far, no court cases have directly dealt with the question of non-timber forest resources, Nikolakis said. If one did, itB次元官网网址檚 likely the Crown (the provincial or federal governments) would try to limit how much First Nations could regulate non-timber forest resources and, by extension, the forests that support them.

ItB次元官网网址檚 an approach Nikolakis said doesnB次元官网网址檛 sit well with many First Nations because it lets Canada B次元官网网址� not First Nations B次元官网网址� limit the scope and scale of Aboriginal rights. And typically, the courts B次元官网网址渄efine these in very static terms and (freeze) them in time.B次元官网网址�

B次元官网网址淪o many First Nations are going around (anyway) and exercising their rights and laws in their own way, giving expression to their own laws.B次元官网网址� And that includes regulating who can harvest mushrooms on their land.

ItB次元官网网址檚 an approach Kukpi7 Ron Ignace, chief of the Skeetchestn Indian Band, took following the Elephant Hill wildfire, which ripped through the First NationB次元官网网址檚 traditional territory in 2017. Anticipating a rush of mushroom pickers seeking fire morels B次元官网网址� which only grow the year after a wildfire and are one of B.C.B次元官网网址檚 most important commercial species B次元官网网址� he partnered with other Secwepemc communities and the TsB次元官网网址檏wB次元官网网址檃ylaxw First Nation of the StB次元官网网址檃tB次元官网网址檌mc Nation to establish a permit system for harvesters.

Overall, he said, the system was well-received. A single buyer refused to pay the permit fee many pickers and buyers appreciated the garbage disposal, outhouses and search and rescue service the First Nations provided in exchange for greater oversight. And the province was generally supportive, going so far as to specify in subsequent publications about the morel industry that a permit was required to harvest in the Elephant Hill area.

ItB次元官网网址檚 an approach B次元官网网址� and assertion of Secwepemc jurisdiction B次元官网网址� that Kukpi7 Ignace plans on expanding beyond wild mushrooms to the entire forest through a partnership with Brinkman Reforestation Ltd and Forest Foods Ltd.

B次元官网网址淲hat weB次元官网网址檙e looking to do B次元官网网址� is to rebuild the forest not as a monoculture B次元官网网址� which it is today, by and large through tree plantations B次元官网网址� but to rebuild it in a biodiverse way.B次元官网网址�

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