Bumper crop of morels hits Flathead Valley

It’s prime time for morel mushroom hunting in the Flathead Valley. The oblong fungi draw truckloads of harvesters to the forest from early May through August in search of these natural treasures. Morels are lauded for their nutty, earthy flavors and make appearances on local menus in the form of sauces, soups and burger toppings.

Anyone can forage for them — as long as they have the proper Forest Service permit. They thrive in wet, riparian areas, beneath dead foliage and in the footprint of the previous year’s forest fires.

The Forest Service distributes permits for recreational and commercial pickers and has observed a substantial uptick this year over the 2017 harvest.

The Flathead National Forest issued 100 free use permits last year compared to 308 this year over the same time period. More than 900 free-use permits have been issued for the Lolo National Forest this year versus 288 the year prior.

“We had a great fire season so folks know they can go out and find them,” said Forest Service public affairs officer Janette Turk. I would say there’s a lot of interest and people who maybe never harvested before are out there giving it a try.”

Matt Opalka, 40, of Columbia Falls, has been foraging for fungi since the early 2000s.

“I love the woods and I love the outside. I haven’t watched television in 15 years,” said the avid outdoorsman. “I like the fact that we can go out and have this inner child treasure hunt and harvest our food.”

And harvest he has.

Opalka got his start when he accompanied a friend morel hunting in the North Fork. Although they didn’t find a single mushroom that trip, Opalka was hooked. He read recommendations from Missoula-based mycologist Larry Evans — “He’s like the God of morels in Montana” — and headed for the hills, learning the ins and outs of morel habitats as he went.

Morels thrive in a surprising variety of environments. Opalka has seen them crop up in wet, moist areas, dry burns and even charred rock faces, although burn sites tend to be the most reliable source for concentrations of the elusive mushrooms.

He also considers this year’s bloom to be a bumper crop, thanks to the recent weather pattern of alternating rain and sun.

“This is one of the nicest crops I’ve ever seen,” Opalka said. “I’ve seen more morels since April than I probably saw all season last year.”

For morel-hunting newbies, the veteran mushroom hunter has a few tips.

First off, if you’re really uncertain about scouring the countryside, go with someone who’s been before. He also advises foragers to seek out burn areas. Maps of fire footprints can be found online at www.inciweb.nwcg.gov, and show the spread of the fire along with trails, roads, lakes and other landmarks. Riparian areas — land adjacent to rivers and streams — can be hotbeds for morels as well. However, Opalka recommends targeting riparian zones that are also near burns. That way if the steam-side hunting proves fruitless, one can simply trek over to a burn to seek morels in a different setting.

Morel hunting is part luck, part science.

“You could be right here and 60 yards to your right could be the biggest patch you’ve ever seen and you could just keep going this way,” Opalka said. “The hardest part is really knowing if you’re in the right area. It is a crapshoot to a point.”

But those willing to put in the effort may walk out of the brush with a pile of forest fruits.

“It’s kind of like fishing or berry picking — the more you go out, the more you’re going to be rewarded,” he added.

But be sure to avoid the false morel — while similar in texture, this poisonous shroom is red or range in color with a more globular structure. If pickers are uncertain if they’ve grabbed a true morel or a false one, they can simply slice the fungi lengthwise.

“A true morel is almost impossible to mistake. This is the golden rule — if you cut it lengthwise, it’s hollow,” Opalka said. “No questions asked. If you cut a false morel lengthwise, it’s not. It’s got tissue in it.”

There are also a few tools of the trade a savvy morel hunter should have on hand. Bear spray is strongly recommended — while bears don’t typically go after morels, they may be foraging on nearby ground. A place to store harvested morels is also handy — a mesh carrier is preferred over a paper bag, Opalka said. He fashions his out of old screens, for example.

“Put them in mesh so that when you’re walking through the woods, you’re dropping spores,” he explained. “It’s just a good ethical practice, just like catch and release.”

A knife could also come in handy for cutting morels. Opalka suggests slicing the shrooms about an inch from the forest floor rather than pulling them from the earth. Once cut, the morels will regrow a second time within seven to 10 days.

Collecting mushrooms is illegal in Glacier National Park, as with other national parks, but morels can be harvested from national forest lands like the Flathead National Forest, which runs to the west of Flathead Lake, Kootenai National Forest, located west of Whitefish, and Lolo National Forest near Missoula.

Per pound, morels fetch between $7-12 wet, Opalka said, and he’s seen them go for $80 to as high as $200 per pound, dried. Local Craigslist sellers are offering morels for around $14-15. Many grocers in the valley have already sold out of fresh morels, although Withey’s carries them for $19.99 per pound.

For Opalka, nothing beats getting out in the woods and hunting for them himself.

“We’re in peak morel season right now. The blacks have come out and now the grays are out, and these are called the burn morels. The blondes grow mostly in riparian areas,” he said of the three varieties. “People would be amazed where these things grow.”

Reporter Mackenzie Reiss can be reached at 758-4433 or mreiss@dailyinterlake.com.