Mushroom foraging laws in New Mexico
Compiled from official sources; not legal advice. Rules change. Confirm with the land manager or the agency before you pick.
Summary
New Mexico's state park rules do not address picking mushrooms. State trust land rules bar removing "any other plant life" for recreation permit holders but do not say whether mushrooms count. Check with the land manager before you pick.
Public land
State parks: the park rules (19.5.2 NMAC) do not address picking plants or mushrooms, but a superintendent may restrict or ban activities in a park area by posting. State trust land: people with a recreational access permit may not remove native plants or "any other plant life," except non-commercial pinon nuts. The rule does not say whether mushrooms count, so ask the State Land Office. Federal lands follow their own rules.
Permits
Recreation on state trust land is done under a recreational access permit from the State Land Office. Plant and animal collecting in a state park for academic research needs a research permit from the State Parks resource program.
Selling
New Mexico adopts the 2017 FDA Food Code for food businesses. Its wild mushroom rule says a food establishment may not sell or serve mushrooms picked in the wild unless it has been approved to do so, with exceptions for cultivated mushrooms and packaged products from a regulated processing plant.
Sources
- 19.5.2 NMAC - State Parks visitor provisions
- 19.2.19 NMAC - Recreational and educational access to state trust lands
- 7.6.2 NMAC - Food service and food processing
- FDA Food Code 2017 (3-201.16 Wild Mushrooms)
Last verified: November 11, 2026