Are we monitoring our use of nature's resources?

We found some chanterelle mushrooms where we were hunting this year, but not as many as there should have been.

Some, I would have used, had already been picked, then tossed aside and left to rot. I wondered who would create such waste, then a commercial mushroom hunter camped near us.

He said he'd picked 47 pouns a few days before, but the buyers only accepted 27 pounds; he had to throw away the rest. Now he was weeding out - after picking - unacceptable specimens as he went.

Gave me a couple matsutakes (spendy) that had been rejected as "imperfect".

It angered me to see such waste; further annoyed me because some of my favorite areas have been closed due to "over-picking".

When I mentioned those areas, he said I should just go ahead and pick there because many commercial pickers were ignoring those closure signs in pursuit of cash generating varieties of fungus.

Perhaps what tweaked my anger synapses the most was when he showed me how the commercial buyers graded for quality, thus price they'd pay, of both chanterelles and matsu-takes.

There were some pretty fine lines drawn between fungus bringing top prices, lesser quality (but saleable), and those deemed unacceptable for purchase.

Most of those "rejectees" would have graced my dinner plate without a second thought. The slight visual blemishes wouldn't have daunted my taste bud's enjoyment a bit.

I've always felt positively about those who brave the elements, and are careful in what they do, in the process of gleaning a living from our natural resources.

Many individuals who do so these days are aware of steps they need to take to mitigate collateral damage, to the natural environment, caused by their activities.

Most realize the importance of maintaining as much biodiversity in nature as we can; not destroying ecosystems/organisms which may play vital roles in the survival of life on our planet.

Mushrooms are an abundant organism, one we're all familiar with, which may have under-explored capabilities for healing environmental damage. We continually hear of new medical discoveries, based on substances produced by life forms which can adapted to treat health problems.

What other naturally occurring substances are out there, still to be discovered, perhaps holding amazing capabilities to heal both humans, and environment? We've barely begun to scratch the surface of the potentials presented in nature.

Key to making such discoveries is preserving biodiversity by making wise decisions; not those based solely on economic, or political, expediency. But, we're on the verge of losing a lot of species during this century.

We can't do much about natural extinctions.

However, we can all work toward limiting unnecessary, human-caused, species destruction. We can't survive without natural resources, but maybe we should all mandate extracting them - and using them - in ways that won't create a missing link in that chain.

This talkative mushroomer said he'd sold a thousand pounds of chanterelles, the previous year, from the area where we were camped.

If he'd had a similar percentage of rejections as this year, it's possible he discarded nearly another thousand pounds.

Many hundreds of commercial pickers roam the wilds each season. If many use similar techniques, the resource could eventually be damaged severely, all for the sake of the magic phrase, "wild", so valued by gourmets, and restaurants.

Trouble is, we're selling picking permits without sufficient monitoring of how it's being done.

When a "wild" food item must not merely taste good, but also be aesthetically pleasing to be saleable, the door is opened for massive waste of the resource.

Perhaps commercial mushroom buyers should follow rules similar to those on razor clams: Regardless of size, or appearance, you buy them. Might limit their markets, though.

It really irks me when those of us in the general public, who merely harvest small quantities of mushrooms for personal table use, are denied access to historically good picking areas because of the depredations of under-controlled commercial activities on public lands.

Once again it's an indication that economics apparently outweigh common sense, and potential affects on future generations, in managing many of our natural resources.

Bill Barker can be reached at bill.barker@comcast.net