Mushroom foraging laws in Maine
Compiled from official sources; not legal advice. Rules change. Confirm with the land manager or the agency before you pick.
Summary
According to the Bureau of Parks and Lands, mushroom collecting on Maine Public Lands needs no permit, but state parks and historic sites do not allow gathering of any kind. State law makes removing anything natural from Bureau land without authorization a Class E crime. Maine's former wild mushroom certification law was repealed in 2021, and I did not find a current official rule on selling.
Public land
The Bureau of Parks and Lands says gathering is only allowed on Maine's Public Lands, not on State Parks and Historic Sites, which do not allow gathering or collecting of any kind. It lists mushroom collecting among the activities that need no permit. State law (12 M.R.S. 1806(4)(A)) makes it a Class E crime to remove, molest, injure or damage anything natural on Bureau land except as authorized by the Bureau. Federal lands follow their own rules. The Bureau page was read from an archived copy and may be dated.
Permits
No permit is needed for berry picking, fiddlehead picking or mushroom collecting on Public Lands, per the Bureau. Permits are required for firewood cutting, fir tipping, ash trees and birch bark. State parks do not allow gathering at all.
Limits
The Bureau asks gatherers to leave enough to reseed and feed wildlife. No numeric limit was found.
Selling
Maine's former Wild Mushroom Harvesting Certification Program (22 M.R.S. section 2175) is marked repealed (PL 2021, c. 125). No current Maine rule on selling wild mushrooms was found in official sources; ask the Maine CDC Health Inspection Program for restaurants, or the Department of Agriculture for other sales.
Sources
- Maine Bureau of Parks and Lands - Gathering (read via archived copy)
- 12 M.R.S. 1806 - Enforcement, Bureau of Parks and Lands
- Maine Legislature - 22 M.R.S. section 2175 (repealed)
Last verified: November 11, 2026