As part of wildfire recovery efforts following the 2018 wildfires in the Cariboo and West Coast natural resource regions, the Province is supporting local First Nations as they monitor the season’s morel harvest.

The Southern Dakelh Nation Alliance (SDNA) is implementing the 2019 SDNA Morel Harvest Program, which aims to minimize impacts to sensitive ecosystems and cultural areas, increase public safety and encourage respectful land-use practices.

The Province is supporting the program’s objectives, as British Columbia and the SDNA continue to work together to enact the Foundation Framework Agreement, or Hubulhsooninats’Uhoot’alh – Dakelh for “together we will fix it” – signed in July 2018.

The SDNA has developed environmental and camp standards, as well as social and safety standards, to mitigate impacts to biologically and culturally sensitive areas. Pickers and buyers in certain wildfire areas can receive safety and educational materials, basic camp services, such as portable toilets, and large, animal-proof waste bins. Experienced SDNA stewardship guardians are monitoring and reporting on the impacts of the commercial mushroom harvest in permitted areas.

The British Columbia government’s support of the SDNA’s stewardship role in morel and fire management in the area demonstrates its ongoing commitment to implementing the Foundation Framework Agreement and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

As part of the environmental recovery process, the B.C. government has closed specific areas to mushroom harvesting activities from July 8 to Aug. 31, 2019.

For a map showing the areas affected by this closure, visit: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/assets/gov/farming-natural-resources-and-industry/natural-resource-use/land-water-use/crown-land/crown-land-uses/regional-initiatives/morel_mgmt_zone1_2019_07_18.pdf

Learn More:

Harvesting morel mushrooms in the Southern Dakelh Territory: www.sdnamorelharvest.ca

Information and safety tips for picking mushrooms in wildfire-affected areas are available by calling FrontCounter BC at 1 877 855-3222 toll-free, or by visiting: www.gov.bc.ca/mushroompicking

Interactive map showing all areas in B.C. where mushroom picking is restricted: https://governmentofbc.maps.arcgis.com/apps/SimpleViewer/index.html?appid=73bb4f9638384fb7aa25e3717dfe380d

United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: https://www.un.org/development/desa/indigenouspeoples/declaration-on-the-rights-of-indigenous-peoples.html

SDNA Hubulhsooninats’Uhoot’alh Foundation Framework Agreement – 2018: https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/environment/natural-resource-stewardship/consulting-with-first-nations/first-nations-negotiations/first-nations-a-z-listing/southern-dakelh-nation-alliance