LANSING, Mich. – Looking for morel mushrooms this spring? The Michigan Department of Natural Resources has released a map that might help.
The DNR released an online interactive map that shows where the state’s 2015 wildfires and prescribed burns took place. Each area was more than ten acres in size. Jim Fisher, resource protection manager for the DNR Forest Resources Division says that morel mushrooms are often found in locations where large fires happened the year before.
“Each spring we get calls from people who are seeking details on those sites to hunt morels,” said Fisher in a press release. “We’ve enhanced the features of this map to give our customers the information they are looking for in a mobile-friendly, easily accessible package.”
Morel mushrooms commonly sprout in locations burned by wildfires or prescribed burns with a tree canopy; grass or sunlit open areas are less likely to produce the tasty and valuable fungi.
The DNR’s interactive Mi-Morels map provides forest cover type information, latitude and longitude coordinates and state-managed land boundary information.
Fisher says that just because a spot is marked on the map, it doesn’t necessarily mean there will be morels there. Hunters still have to go out and look.
