Hey, You! Stop Eating My Yard!

The rise in popularity of wild vegetation like fiddleheads, mushrooms and seaweed is causing friction between foragers and landowners; ‘fry it up and eat it.’ Such tensions are becoming more common in Maine, where the rise in popularity of wild vegetation like fiddleheads, ramps, mushrooms and seaweed for uses from gourmet cooking to nutritional supplements is causing friction between foragers and landowners. It is also threatening the state’s unusual and centuries-old tradition of allowing public access to private property.