Last week, I was enticed to go on a drive to Pressy Lake. I received a call from a gentleman at Pressy Lake who said there were plenty of morel mushroom pickers along North Bonaparte Road.
I quickly grabbed my camera and set off towards 70 Mile House to turn off there.
A little over a week before, on May 18, the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations announced that, in combination with First Nations, they were setting rules for mushroom harvesters: individual pickers would have to pay a $20 fee while buyers would have to pay $500, in exhange for educational materials, safety tips and rudimentary camping services.
“We are partnering with First Nations to make sure this area is preserved for future generations,” said Doug Donaldson, Minister of Forests, Lands, Natural Resource Operations and Rural Development, at the time. “As mushroom season begins, we urge anyone interested in harvesting mushrooms to be responsible and respectful.”
Heading down on North Bonaparte Road, even before getting into the prime mushroom picking territory it was somewhat obvious that there was something going on as there were plenty of vehicles going in or out loaded with camping gear: more than you would expect for a wildfire burned area anyways.
Once on the gravel for a while, I started passing elaborate setups. Many of the pickers seemingly were simply staying in tents, while some were staying in quite high-end (based on appearance) RVs. The camps were often accompanied by porta potty’s, likely the “rudimentary camping services,” referred to by the government.
Most of the camps seemed to be empty with no people on-site (except for those with buyers). I pulled over when I saw a person picking. In a thick accent, he declined to do an interview but complained about the bugs which were swarming all over him. When I got back in the car I spent a short time swatting mosquitos myself before carrying on.
Most of the morel pickers and buyers declined to be interviewed or give me their name.
One of them told me it was his second time picking, adding that he usually picks boxwood, working for the floral industry, but that it was all buried in the snow this year.
It’s hot and there are bugs, stay in the motel, he joked. He’d been out about 10 days and that the picking was mediocre barely making a couple of hundred a day. It was a sentiment echoed by many others I spoke to.
According to some, prices were only $5 or $6 per pound depending on who you spoke to, adding that meant many pickers were only making $150 to $200 a day before having to pay for expenses.
Heather Servaties had been out picking for about a week and a day.
“It’s slow, hot and lots of bugs.”
Servaties hails from Terrace, B.C. and said she’d done a little bit of picking before.
“It’s a fun thing to do and I’m not working,” she said. “Right now the price is only $6 so you really have to pick quite a bit to make decent money.”
Nearly all the pickers said they were hoping for rain.
An older gentleman, who said he’d been picking for about 20 years, said that there wasn’t enough moisture for good mushroom growth. He added that growth usually goes in a bit of a cycle and that they were in a dip. In talking to the pickers and buyers, my throat quickly picked up an all too familiar itching and burning feeling due to smoke from the somewhat nearby Allie Lake fire that was hanging in the air.
Continuing on towards Pressy Lake, some properties had burned trees cut down and lying on the ground while an RV was parked in the middle. You’d also regularly see cars on the side of the road without anyone in sight, presumably from pickers deep into the black.
Turning off towards Pressy Lake, there was a sign saying “Stay Strong Pressy Lake.” Beside it were a few “for sale” signs. In the odd spot, there was a person working clearing up bush and other debris. However, continuing down further, there were also a few people sitting on lawn chairs in front of their unburned cabins enjoying the warm weather.
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