NAMA 2008 McCall Idaho
The NAMA annual foray at McCall, Idaho, September 3-7, 2008, was a delightful and successful celebration. The weather and mushrooms cooperated beyond belief. The foray was a memorial for Dr. Orson K. Miller, Jr.
McCall is where Orson and Hope Miller spent many vacations and spare time when not at Virginia Tech - and eventually made it their retirement home. Camp Pinewood, our site for the foray, was situated right in McCall. The Southern Idaho Mycological Association (SIMA) hosted the event and made sure NAMA was well cared for.
Dr. Cathy Cripps, a former Miller protégé, was Foray Mycologist. She was assisted by Tom Volk, Steve Miller, Vera Evenson, Walter Sundberg, Rod Tulloss, Steve Trudell and other mycologists. The extra specialists were appreciated because of the abundance of fungi. Many choice and favorite edible mushrooms were in abundance so that everyone could boast picking a basketful. You could hear a big sigh of relief from Mycophagy Chair, Ursula Pohl, as well. She was able to have more than enough for the Saturday mushroom tasting, unlike the past several years. The full voucher collection list will be published at a later date after Patrick Leacock has a chance to check the full collection into the Field Museum.
The program sessions were stimulating and extremely interesting. Among them, a forester from the Forest Service discussed the ecology/biology of the forest floor after a fire. Fires do not kill everything in their path and often provide the needed nutrients and space for the regeneration of native species. Fires ship and hop, leaving islands of vegetation for repopulation, and in areas where burning occurs, it often is variable in its intensity. All this provides variation in regeneration.
Roger Rosentreter treated us to a close-up look at the northern flying squirrel, its lifestyle and unique diet of truffles and other fungi. His photos were stunning as well. Steve Miller is still trying hard to encourage us to give Russulas a chance by making them more familiar and less overwhelming to identify. Yes, each species can come in a wide variation of colors, but by paying close attention to habitat, spore colors, bruising and odors, they can be sorted out. Tom Volk presented both sides of the case for wood decays. It is very much an important part of a healthy ecosystem as well as being destructive, but still very much a part of life. Some of his photos will not be forgotten, especially what molds and decays can do to a musty and damp basement. There were several excellent workshops and discussions as well for those who were weary from hauling heavy baskets of boletes back to camp.
On Saturday night, Michael Beug presented "Mushrooms of Idaho," which is now available on CD through NAMA educational programs.
Read Debbie Viess' article about the foray in Fungi Magazine.
Usula Pohl, MaryLu Anderson, Hope Miller, Susan Stacey, Bob Chehey, Linda Fleetwood, Genille Steiner, Kathy Richmond, Cathy Cripps
