Culturally and economically important nontimber forest products of northern Maine

Nontimber forest products (NTFPs) gathered for food, medicine, craft, spiritual, aesthetic, and utilitarian purposes make substantial contributions to the economic viability and cultural vitality of communities. In the St. John River watershed of northern Maine, people identifying with cultural groups including Acadian, Maliseet, Mi'kmaq, Scotch-Irish, and Swedish use more than 120 wild plant and fungus species. We interviewed both gatherers and land managers about NTFP uses that are significant in this region and about factors that facilitate or limit gathering, including access to gathering sites. This handbook and its accompanying Web site (http://nrs.fs.fed.us/sustaining_forests/conserve_enhance/special_products/maine_ntfp/) present our overall study findings as well as in-depth species profiles of 30 nontimber forest products including brown ash, paper birch, blueberries, highbush cranberry, and fiddleheads.