ECOLOGY

           Huckleberries, of the genus Vaccinium, are major components of the understory in coniferous forests in the Northwestern United States. Te dominant huckleberry along the PNW coastal range is the Vaccinium parvifolium. Its common name is the red huckleberry. This shrub grows erect and can reach four meters in height. Its leaves are oval and approximately three centimeters in length (Pojar and Mackinnon, 1994). Its flowers are greenish-yellow or pinkish and in the shape of a bell or urn which can measure up to five millimeters long. The berries are bright red and grow up to one centimeter across. These berries can be a little sour for some tastes. The red huckleberry grows from sea level to 3,000 feet on the edges of forests or among canopy openings, in soils rich with decaying wood (Pojar and Mackinnon, 1994).

HISTORY

    The Yakima Indians have a huckleberry legend that shows the importance of the huckleberry in their culture. The legend is a creation story, in which a creator makes the world out of his body parts. The story ends when the creator realizes there are no berries in the mountains and the only body parts he had left were his eyes.

"So, he took out his eyes and put them into the ground of the mountains. The veins of his eyes bled into the earth and became the roots. The roots became the plant, and the berries sprouted and became huckleberries." (Giford Pinchot National Forest, p.1).

     The Native Americans of the Northwest have had a relationship with the huckleberries for thousands of years. Throughout Native American history, they have been going to huckleberry patches every year, and still continue to do so.

     After the huckleberries are harvested, they are then dried. The traditional process of drying the huckleberries first starts with either felling a large fir tree or finding one already down, digging a trench along the base of the tree and building up a sloping mound along the trench, opposite the tree. Tule mats are placed on the banks and the berries are placed on the mats. Small fires are set along the tree, using it as fuel. The berries then dry on the mats. Once dried, the berries are lighter and can be more easily transported. Also when dried, the berries can keep through the winter (Lookabill, 1998).

ECONOMICS

      Since the domestication of huckleberries has not been successful, harvesting still takes place in the wild. Harvesters pick them directly with their fingertips, though lawn rakes are sometimes used to sweep the berries off the bush (Kawatski, 1992).

     The capital investments in harvesting huckleberries are minimal. All that are needed are transportation to the patch, something to carry the berries (like a bucket), and possibly a permit, depending on district regulations. Once berries are picked, the harvester can choose to sell them to a buyer or directly to a consumer.

MANAGEMENT AND POLICY

      Regulations on picking huckleberries are fairly relaxed compared to other forest products. Neither the West Fir Ranger District nor the McKenzie Ranger District of the Willamette National forest require permits. The Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington requires a permit if more than three gallons is harvested. They also specify that mechanical harvesting of huckleberries is prohibited. This includes the use of rakes (Gifford Pinchot National Forest, 2005). The Flathead National Forest is Montana does not require a permit to pick berries, but no more than ten gallons per adult can be taken.

The 1932 Handshake Agreement
       The "1932 Handshake Agreement" stands out because it took place in a time of "bureaucratic indifference or antagonism toward Native American culture" (Fisher, 2002:293). It guaranteed Native access to the Sawtooth Berry Fields, some of the most productive huckleberry fields in the world. The agreement also guaranteed them privacy to carry out their traditional picking culture. This agreement is still upheld today, but by no means has it been an easy agreement to maintain. During the depression of the 1930s, increasing numbers of economically suffering people began to pick huckleberries either to sell for money or to supplement their poor diet. These non-natives began to cross the boundaries into the Sawtooth Berry Fields. This created tension between the Natives and non-natives.     

The greatest threat to the Sawtooth Berry Fields is no longer non-natives sneaking in to steal berries; it is the ever-encroaching forest that is taking over the huckleberry patches (Fisher 2002). Fire has not occurred in the area for nearly a century, and the conifers are taking over the patches (Boyd 1999). Fire has not occurred because the United States Forest Service does not permit burning.

*Compiled from a paper by Michael Klinkebiel