Friday, August 23, 2019 | Seaside Signal | SeasideSignal.com • A3
Wild mushrooms
matsutake (Pine
mushroOms)
ChanterelLe
Porcini
(king boletes)
Morel
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Get out t
Fall mushroom season starting early this year
By TOM BANSE
Northwest News Network
P
acifi c Northwest-
erners who forage
for wild mush-
rooms are notic-
ing that the late
summer and fall delicacies are
coming in early this year. Edi-
ble wild mushrooms are now
fl ooding wholesale markets.
In the maritime Northwest,
chanterelles are coming in at
least three weeks early. In the
Cascade Mountains, porcinis
(aka king boletes) and mat-
sutakes (aka pine mushroom)
are poking up earlier than nor-
mal, too.
“We’re
already
seeing
mushrooms coming in that
generally don’t show up until
the middle of September,”
Charlie Wiley, a commercial
mushroom buyer in southwest
Washington state and owner of
Pacifi c Northwest Wild Mush-
rooms, said. “We’ve got pine
mushrooms coming in. I can’t
remember ever getting them in
August.”
Wiley guessed the wild
mushrooms were triggered to
fruit early by mild, moist sum-
mer weather.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Mushroom pickers fl ock to Fort Stevens State Park during peak foraging season.
“Mother Nature is fi n-
icky and she defi nitely tricked
them,” Wiley said. “It’s shap-
ing up to be an outstanding
mushroom crop this year.”
Wiley said wholesale prices
are falling fast as pickers bring
in big harvests, which means
you might want to keep an eye
out for specials at supermar-
kets and restaurants.
A new festival in Oregon to
celebrate wild mushrooms had
to be moved up by a week to
Aug. 25 because the star attrac-
Transit district in search of bus drivers
By LUCY KLEINER
The Astorian
The Sunset Empire
Transportation District is
under pressure to hire bus
drivers for a major expan-
sion and a crush of cruise
ship visits this fall.
“It’s not just unique to
our agency,” Jeff Hazen, the
transit district’s executive
director, said. “It’s a nation-
wide issue of fi nding drivers
for transit.”
The expansion, funded
by a payroll tax that was part
of a transportation package
passed by the state Legisla-
ture in 2017, is scheduled to
begin in October. The fi rst
project Sunset Empire will
focus on is providing week-
end bus service in Astoria.
In September and Octo-
ber, Astoria is expected to
welcome 11 cruise ships,
including three on Sept. 26
that could fl ood the city with
more than 4,450 visitors.
Sunset Empire adds two
routes on days when cruise
ships are in town to accom-
modate passengers and crew.
The transit district is con-
cerned the lack of bus driv-
ers and the demands cruise
ships put on bus lines will
delay the expansion.
“I’ve got my fi ngers
crossed,” Hazen said. “But it
just depends if we can hire a
few more drivers.”
Hazen needs four driv-
ers before October and 10
within the next year to tackle
the expansion and the cruise
ship lineup.
On cruise ship days, Sun-
set Empire adds Route 11
and Route 12.
Colin Murphey/The Astorian
Passengers disembark a cruise ship at the Port of Astoria in
2018.
Route 11 is designed to
move passengers from the
Port of Astoria to downtown.
The bus makes stops at 10th
Street and the Columbia
River Maritime Museum
before looping back to the
Port.
The second route, Route
12, targets the cruise ship’s
crew. That route goes from
the Port to shopping cen-
ters in Warrenton, includ-
ing Fred Meyer, Costco and
Walmart, where the crew
can purchase groceries, toi-
letries and other items.
By the time the cruise
ship season ends in late
October, 18 ships will have
visited Astoria this year. The
number is expected to nearly
double in 2020, when 33
cruise ships are scheduled to
visit.
“Right now, we have
enough buses to transport
when we activate the Route
11 and Route 12 on cruise
ship days,” Hazen said. “But
with the amount of cruise
ships scheduled next year
and the amount of passen-
gers coming in, we won’t
have enough.”
When passengers arrive
at the Port, they are wel-
comed by the Clatsop Cruise
Hosts, a group of volun-
teers in blue vests that help
visitors navigate the city.
Among other things, the vol-
unteers set up a ticket kiosk
at the Port, where passen-
gers can purchase an all-day
bus pass. Tickets are $6 for
guests, $3 dollars for crew.
“It’s on and off all day.
Once they pay their ticket
they don’t have to pay
again,” said Cyndi Mudge,
the volunteer coordinator.
“It’s really convenient.”
Other
transportation
options include walking,
renting a car or using tour
buses for planned outings.
But Mudge said the majority
of passengers use transit dis-
trict buses.
The growing number of
cruise ships will increase the
burden on the two routes,
and without enough bus
drivers, passengers could
have to wait longer.
“It’s just a continual line
for the fi rst hour or two,”
Mudge said of the experi-
ence now. “Think of moving
a thousand people. That’s a
lot of bus runs.”
“Large ships, anything
2,000-plus, those are the
ones that are a challenge,”
she said. “Moving even half
of those passengers land-
ing in our town (is) a lot of
work.”
One of the solutions
Hazen has suggested is to
acquire larger buses that
can hold up to 100 people.
Though steps have yet to be
taken to acquire the buses,
he is hopeful other agen-
cies will donate used buses
to Sunset Empire as there is
typically a fee to have older
buses removed.
tion is arriving early. The Mt.
Hood Meadows Mushroom
Festival was originally sched-
uled for Labor Day weekend.
Vice president Dave Trage-
thon said his Mount Hood
resort previously hosted mush-
room dinners in the spring and
fall, but expanded the program
this year to include guided
hikes, cooking demos and a
food fest.
“We are making this more
about discovery and getting
into the forest to fi nd some
treasures, identifying them and
coming up with delicious ways
to prepare and present them,”
Tragethon said.
Novices interested in for-
aging for wild mushrooms are
strongly urged to go out with a
mushroom expert until they get
the hang of fungi identifi cation.
Commercial mushroom for-
agers hope the unusual early
arrival of fall fungi does not
lead to an early end of this
year’s season as well.
“Hopefully, we’ll still get
another fl ush of things in the
fall,” Dena Wiley, a partner
in the Pacifi c Northwest Wild
Mushrooms company, said.
“We count on the October
mushrooms to come in for the
Thanksgiving holidays.”
Federal grant funds
Oregon whale research
The Astorian
The state has landed a
federal grant that will fund
research into whale entan-
glement issues off the Ore-
gon Coast.
The federal species
recovery grant the Ore-
gon Department of Fish
and Wildlife received this
month — a total of nearly
$270,000 that spans three
fi scal years — will allow
researchers to delve deeper
into research that looks
at how to avoid confl icts
between whales and fi sh-
ing gear.
California, Oregon and
Washington state have coor-
dinated efforts to address
confl icts between forag-
ing whales and fi shing gear,
specifi cally
commercial
Dungeness crabbing gear.
The research in Oregon,
conducted by Oregon State
University in collaboration
with the Coast Guard, began
this year with initial funding
from the Oregon Dungeness
Crab Commission.
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