Huckleberries

Julie's posts about Pendleton and AAA's questions about huckleberries have inspired be to put a little of my research for FW 470 in my blog. Huckleberries are part of the Vaccinium genus. This genus also contains blueberries and cranberries (both of which can be found in the wilds of the Pacific Northwest as well). All told there are 400 species of huckleberry worldwide (Vaccinium spp), 26 found in North America, 17 in the Pacific Northwest. Nearly all tribes in this area considered the huckleberry to be sacred. Before non-Indians began settling the area the tribes would dry the berries, eat them raw, or make them into "patties" or "cakes" and then dry them. When non-Indians moved out here and saw them eating the huckleberries they began picking them too. Huckleberries were canned or made into jams, jellies, pies, etc by euro-american settlers. When the depression "hit" the commercial harvesting of huckleberries by non-Indians increased, often creating conflict with Indians on traditional picking grounds. Today fire suppression has caused huckleberry production to decrease (they are rhizomous early-succession plants, they need light!). With the increased popularity of huckleberries in gourmet cooking, magazines, restaurants, and their increased use by cottage industries (syrups, jellies, candies, etc) less of the annual harvests are being left for tribes and home use. The saddest part of this story is that huckleberries have not been domesticated yet. This means that wild huckleberries, which also provide food for countless species of birds and both brown and black bears, are being over-harvested. Our national forests contain a high percentage of the berry field used by commercial harvesters . . . meaning huckleberries have reached a first come first served status. Pickers are often bused in before the picking season opens, to scout out areas with high numbers of berries. These pickers have no ties to the area, to the plants, or to their maintenance. This causes them to be rough with the plants. Huckleberries grow in clusters, so this carelessness also causes unripe berries to be picked along with ripe berries. The following link is for a US Forest Service Research Station publishing: http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_gtr657.pdf.

On another note, it was 95 degrees here today . . . boo! I was really sick last night, I believe due to be out in the heat and having not drank enough water, so I didn't go survey today. Now I have to go tomorrow. The vegetation survey is taking much more time to put together than I expected. I'm frustrated by the management at EE Wilson and I find my interest in this study shifting slightly. I'm interested not so much in just what birds are using these areas, but in the differences between them and the possibility of management types affecting the diversity of species and numbers between the two sites.