PENDLETON — For avid mushroom pickers, spring begins when fungi return to the forest.

Personal-use mushroom picking is free on the Blue Mountains National Forests and does not require a permit or payment under the legal limits, which authorizes an individual to harvest, possess or transport less than a gallon in Oregon and less than 5 gallons in Washington, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The mushrooms must be for personal consumption and cannot be sold, bartered or given away, the release said. Those seeking to pick more than the free personal-use limit are considered commercial gatherers and must pay for a permit. Commercial mushroom picking is prohibited in Wilderness areas.

Many mushroom varieties are poisonous, pointed out the press release, and proper identification and determination of whether a mushroom is edible crucial and is the responsibility of the picker.