Keifer Ecological Services

• Kinbasket Reservoir Revegetation Program
• Arrow Lakes Reservoir Revegetation Program
• Silviculture, Wildfire and Forest Stand Effects on Huckleberries
• Spalding’s Campion Inventory and Habitat Assessment
• MOE Elder Creek Prescribed Burn
• Spatial and Quality Attributes of Culturally Important Plants
• Rare Plant Propagation and Restoration, Waneta Expansion Project
• Whitebark and Limber Pine Restoration in BC
• Impact of Accelerated Timber Harvesting on NTFPs
• Aberfeldie Channel and Revegetation Program
• Effects of Mountain Pine Beetle on NTFRs
• Revegetation of Disturbed Wetlands in Westpath Expansion Area
• Managing Saskatoon and other Traditionally Important Plants
• Invasive Plant Inventories at Provincial Parks
• Profile of NTFRs in the Cascade Forest District
• Invasive Species Mitigation Practices after Forest Management Activities
• Ethnobotanical Inventory, Invermere
• Reconnaissance Level Wetland Testing on TaTa/Skookumchuck Range
• Revegetation Monitoring - Kootenay 230 kV System Transmission Line
• Cultural Plants of the Creston Wetlands
• Morels in the East Kootenay, BC

Morels in the East Kootenay, BC

This case study builds on research performed in the East Kootenay region of British Columbia that focused on the habitat and productivity of morel mushroom, which is one of the most valued edible fungi in the Pacific Northwest.  In particular, this case study collects what is known and what is yet to be understood about the relationship between forest fires and the production of morels and explores some of the challenges that would be faced in efforts to improve the commercial success of the morel harvest.  These challenges include the inconsistent harvest locations and quantities of morel production. In many areas of B.C., annual morel harvests normally depend on the occurrence of unpredictable forest disturbances, principally fire and insect attack.  On the basis of prior research and current information, the authors examine the benefits of considering morel production in forest management strategies.  They also point to key areas of additional research that could be useful in supporting a healthy commercial harvest of morels.

Morel mushrooms are among the most valued of the edible fungi, and are traded internationally in both their fresh and dried forms.  Along with pine mushrooms and chanterelles, morels are one of the principal wild mushrooms harvested in British Columbia (B.C.); and they are an important component of the non-timber forest product (NTFP) sector (de Geus 1993, 1995).

This case study describes features of the substantial morel crop produced during 2004 in the Kootenay region of B.C.  The objectives of this study are to document the emergence and characteristics of the morel wild-harvesting industry in the Kootenay region in response to wildfires occurring in 2003, to identify key factors leading to the successful commercial development of this industry, and to explore opportunities and barriers to incorporate forest management strategies that promote commercial morel harvesting.