BOISE, Idaho — Wildfires are devastating, and it takes years for vegetation to regrow in the aftermath. The highly sought-after morel mushroom is the exception.
The truffle-like fungi are prized by gourmet cooks - they can fetch upwards of $20 a pound - which sends hunters into the wilderness every year around this time. With last year's fire season in the southern Idaho region a bit less active than in previous years, that could mean a shortage of morels which thrive in burn scars.
The president of the Mycological Association, Genille Steiner, said that it'll be a few more weeks until the morels are ready. There is still some snow up in the mountains where the mushroom is normally found.
Steiner also said that morels can be found here in the Treasure Valley along the Greenbelt, but it's a little too late in the year to find them. Morels need just the right temperature and environment to grow in.
"You need adequate moisture, if you're having freezing every night, they'll take some but if you're having hard freezing every night you're not going to get them out yet,” Steiner said.
Steiner said the best time to pick and find them will probably be from the end of this month to the end of June.
As far as finding a good spot where morels grow, Steiner said other morel hunters are very secretive and don't share where they find their stash.
“If they find a place, they don't want to share,” Steiner said. “A lot of people that is their private spot, they tend to come back in the wild in the same area year after year after year.”
For the Boise National Forest this year, morel picking is for personal use only this year, commercial use isn't allowed, which means you can't pick them and then sell them.