Mushrooms in Alaska?

I know there are often locals who post to answer questions on these boards, and am in need of local information.

We will be in Alaska in August on a B2B cruise. We are experienced mushroom hunters and like to hike. Since this is our second (and third) time to Alaska we thought we would look around some. We also know that revealing specific mushroom locations is akin to publishing a map of your secret gold find!

We will be in Ketchikan, Skagway, Juneau, Icy Strait Point and turn around in Seward.

What types of mushrooms are possible in August, and does it really matter which port?

Any local tips? Any information would be helpful.

Just what are you going to do with the mushrooms you collect? You would be unable to bring them home with you.

Have already had an extensive discussion about that here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2458974&highlight=QShip

I am just interested in what may be available.

(Maybe I will just build a fire and use a frying pan.)

While I concur with the liability issues around 'will the chef cook them?' here and in your other thread, bringing them onboard to bring home isn't an issue under US agricultural rules - mushrooms are even less restricted than fresh cut flowers (some species of which are still forbidden, even if sourced in Canada).

APHIS lists all edible mushrooms the same - as long as it's just the fruiting body, free of dirt & wood chips, cut, and don't have any insect infestation you can bring them from Canada into the US for personal consumption on an 'inspect and release' basis (and while there's an occasional State-specific rule, like Hawaii, you generally don't have to worry about taking edibles from US State to US State). This means you should preemptively declare them - dogs will definitely find them if they're working.

So, as long as your cruise visits only US/Canadian ports, no import certificate is required as there's nowhere you could have gotten them except somewhere legal (NB: while I believe even parks in AK allow foraging, private land and definitely Native land you need permission - so ISP will be problematic).

As to what to eat - Chanterelles (Pacific Golden I think is the local variety) should be in season by August unless it's a really dry summer, my fave mushroom and easily spotted thanks to the colour since fallen leaves won't be an issue. While they're much more common further south (Oregon's state fungus!) they do grow in SE Alaska too. Couldn't tell you any specific areas though - just the generic 'look for mossy areas under Douglas Fir' advice. There are some pretty close matches that are mildly toxic - since you say you're experienced, I'll assume you have guidebooks/personal knowledge enough not to kill yourselves... but watch out for bears if you're wandering about too!

> while there's an occasional State-specific rule, like Hawaii

Unless this has changed, California and Arizona used to be extremely finicky about bring in plants or products of plants - they confiscated my aloe plant years ago. If the OP's cruise ends in California, he/she would be well advised to check on what local regs are now. AFAIK, Washington and Oregon do not have those prohibitions.

Martincath:

Thanks for the information. Since we will be at US ports once we leave Vancouver I had thought it would not be much of a problem. Just like going from Oregon to Washington, etc.

As to mushrooms, being originally from Oregon, I am familiar with chanterelles, though they are not one of my favorites. We found lobster mushrooms in an OR state park last year, and they were excellent. Probably our favorite is the king bolite (Cep), but we have only found them once on the north side of the Grand Canyon and do not have a good handle on their season. Hopefully the cruise ports will be far enough to delay the season compared to the lower 48.

We are in TX for the winter and found a jack-o-lantern yesterday. It was quite old and leathery, but a good example.

Good point about where to look. Hopefully there are enough public lands that it will not be a problem.

NFS document about mushrooms in the Tongass and Chugach national forests in Alaska:

Mushrooms of the National Forests in Alaska

The thought occurs that at Juneau Glacier Gardens borders on the Tongass NF and might be a place to enter and look. Possibly even contacting someone there might lead to being able to arrange transport into the forest and pickup later - perhaps even put you in contact with a local expert.

I don't know much about Mushrooms, but I did find this one on our Alaska trip and thought it was interesting....

Sequim88

That is a fantastic resource. Thanks for the reference, it makes me even more excited to take a hike.:D

If you bring them back to the US, you will have to declare them on your customs sheet.

I was in San Francisco once and there was a story of experienced mushroom pickers who made soup with mushrooms they found. They all ended up in ICU with organ failure. I left and never found out if they lived or not.

They will not cook them on the ship for you.