Constructing a Wild Mushroom Panopticon: The Extension of Nation-State Control over the Forest Understory in Oregon, USA

Abstract

Constructing a Wild Mushroom Panopticon: The Extension of Nation-State Control over the Forest Understory in Oregon, USA. For most of the 20 th century, wild mushrooms on national forests in the United States fell under a de facto open-access management regime. As consumer demand for wild mushrooms increased, a nation-state wild mushroom management regime based on the use of disciplinary power emerged on many national forests in the Pacific Northwest region. Data from an ethnographic study conducted during the late 1990s illustrate how the simultaneous application of three core surveillance technologies-categorization, monitoring, and tracking, and the creation of a panopticon surveillance system-enabled the Forest Service to enforce nation-state claims to wild mushrooms. The data indicate that many pickers are unsupportive of the new regulatory system because it has transformed what was once their living space into a working place. Pickers also point out that the system does little to protect or enhance the growth of wild mushrooms. The study supports conclusions from previous studies that disciplinary power techniques play a critical role in the capacity of modern states to extend their control over mobile populations and natural resources.

Gathering plants and fungi along the urban-rural gradient: Uncovering differences in the attitudes and practices among urban, suburban, and rural landowners

“…Scholars have examined the rights of Native peoples to harvest in traditional lands (Jones et al, 2002;Matthewson, 2007), the conflicts between land management priorities (e.g., timber harvest) and the ecological conditions conducive to prized species (Brown, 1995), the ways that changes in environmental regulations alter the ability to harvest prized species on public lands (McLain, 2008;Newfont, 2012), and the relationship of changing ecological conditions with species availability (Ginger et al, 2012). Legal standing for some groups, including native peoples, can mean that they are assured places to harvest valued species (Jones et al, 2002), but this is not the case for all harvesters.…”

Aprovechamiento recreativo de los hongos comestibles silvestres: casos de micoturismo en el mundo con énfasis en México

“…Es necesario abonar a estudios con enfoque de género, como el realizado por Garibay-Orijel et al (2012), en los que se analiza el papel de las mujeres en la recolección, procesamiento y comercialización de los hongos comestibles silvestres como parte de su identidad cultural, vinculados al aprovechamiento turístico. Así como trabajos que aborden los aspectos jurídicos, regulatorios y normativos alrededor del aprovechamiento de dichos recursos, que contribuyan a la generación de un sistema de gestión micológico para su aprovechamiento, sin poner en riesgo su diversidad y disponibilidad (McLain 2008). No se reportan trabajos que hagan un estudio sistemático de la demanda de micoturistas y del perfil de los visitantes que desarrollan estas prácticas.…”

“…Este país cuenta con distintas asociaciones micológicas encargadas de difundir la cultura micoló-gica y su disfrute gastronómico; así como la importancia ecológica y el valor cultural de los hongos. Por parte de la academia se han generado además investigaciones enfocadas en el estudio de los bosques y su gestión a partir de la categorización, monitoreo, seguimiento y vigilancia del aprovechamiento de los hongos comestibles silvestres (McLain 2008).…”

The Contribution of Wild Fungi to Diet, Income and Health: A World Review

“…Overexploitation of the natural resources is feared and different regulatory systems have been developed, for example in Oregon (McLain, 2008) and California (Arora, 2008). Tricholoma magnivelare is the most valuable mushroom collected.…”