Morels Are Where you find them

“If you get out, you’ll find them.”

That’s what Clark County morel mushroom hunter Jim Neff told me. It’s great this year, with the big yellows starting now. If we get some rain, they will really pop,” he said. “But I bet if you go look right now, you’d find some.” If you haven’t looked already, the time is now.

What’s the big deal?Backing up just slightly, Morel mushrooms are easily identified seasonal mushrooms. They are commonly referred to by their top colors. The stalks are always light in color, white, cream or beige. The tops of true morels are attached to the stalk at the base, making them complete and hollow if cut in half lengthwise.

Read the complete column here: https://www.daytondailynews.com/sports/morel-season-is-here-how-to-find-and-identify-the-prized-spring-mushrooms/article_d4ca0067-88d2-411f-a10e-c832a758c4b0.html

Missing Disturbances

They blocked out the sun. That’s a phrase writers in the 1800s used to describe several natural events, including migrations of passenger pigeons, Carolina parakeets, and Rocky Mountain locust. All of which were extinct a relatively short time later.

The environment is always changing, going through a series of contractions and renewals. Change happens; the problem is when the contraction of one area goes too far to allow a following expansion. If the landscape gets too fragmented or a population of a species becomes too small, the cycle can’t be completed. The result is visibly less diversity, but the impact on the future could put even more species at risk.

Read the complete column, Creating Natural Positive Change

Photo: https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/boa/illustration/plate-62-passenger-pigeon.jpg