Huckleberry Picking Update

With huckleberry season in full swing, reports are coming in on the availability and picking success.

Here are some of the articles:

Idaho Huckleberries Arrive Early, Pickers Out ‘In Droves’

By George Prentice

A particularly warm and dry spring and summer are triggering an earlier huckleberry season this year.The Spokane, Wash. Spokesman-Review is reporting that huckleberry pickers are filling Inland Northwest slopes “in droves.”

Most huckleberries, native to the northwestern United States, grow wild, particularly in national and state parks, They typically require elevations between 2,000 and 11,000 feet and thrive in acidic mountain soil. Huckleberries are also known to grow in lower elevation patches near bodies of water.

“Huckleberry picking is serious business for a lot of people,” Jay Kirchner, spokesman for the Idaho Panhandle National Forests, told the Spokesman-Review. “It’s a fun way to connect with the land.”

In addition to Idaho’s Panhandle, Gem State pickers traditionally grab fistfuls of huckleberries in and around Ponderosa State Park in McCall.

Check out this article which includes a video:

Huckleberries are popping up in higher elevations early this year

By Carol Zinke

PRIEST LAKE, ID – Time to go huckleberry picking, they’re here early this year.This because of our light snowfall combined with such a warm spring and summer.The dark-blue berry is typically found above 4,000 feet, but patches of it have been spotted at lower elevations including around Priest Lake.

Officials said the early season isn’t all good news though, because dry areas exposed to sun and heat are not producing as many berries as normal. But the berries you do find will have a more intense flavor.

Huckleberry News from the Coeur d Alene, Idaho area:

Huckleberry supply running low
Scarcity in part due to warm weather, illegal harvesting

by JEFF SELLE

COEUR d’ALENE – Huckleberry season usually starts in mid-August, but warm weather ripened the fruit earlier this year and supplies are already running low, partially from illegal harvesting.

The Idaho Panhandle National Forest issued a press release Friday reminding the public that commercial harvest of huckleberries is illegal on its lands.

“We have some commercial harvesters every year,” said Jason Kirchner, a spokesman for the IPNF. “And we are starting to get phone calls now where people are beginning to see them up there now.”…

… The huckleberry was designated by the Idaho Legislature in 2000 as the official state fruit. Huckleberries freeze well and can last all year long. It is estimated that huckleberries grow at elevations between 2,000 feet and 11,000 feet. For more information about huckleberry picking in the IPNF, please visit its website at http://www.fs.usda.gov/ipnf, or contact your local Forest Service office.

Special Note: Huckleberry rakes are not illegal and do not damage the plants. Also, huckleberry rake tines are spaced so as not to pick green berries. If you would like more information on the correct use of a huckleberry rake, check out the instructions listed here which are endorsed by the Huckleberry Association and Dr. Danny Barney formerly from the UI Sandpoint (huckleberry) Research Center:

WILD HUCKLEBERRY RAKE: USER INSTRUCTIONS FOR ETHICAL HARVEST

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