Welcome to the Club!

Welcome to the home base for the official Ned Smith Center Mushroom Club! While we have quite a bit of work to do before we open to the public, this website will serve as the home base for the club, as well as many of the exciting fungi-related programs we have in development.

Along with 10 other conservation projects throughout Pennsylvania, the Center was a 2024 recipient of grant funding through DCNR's Wild Resource Conservation Program(WRCP). The proposal revolved around establishing a Wild Mushroom Conservation and Education Area(WMCEA) covering 72 acres on Ned Smith Lands. It was a good year for mycology, with two other WRCP recipients also having to do with fungi or mycorrhizal relationships. You can read more about the WMCEA and a map of the location by finding it on our website’s menu above, but to summarize: the Center seeks to conserve this area of property, which is already abundant with seasonal fungi, by encouraging native flora and fauna while eliminating invasive species; this conservation area will eventually be used as a first-of-its kind educational area for use in public programs, school programming, interpretive signage, and activities with the soon-to-be established Ned Smith Center Mushroom Club. 

Over the course of the next two years, the Center plans to complete this project in a few phases:

1. Site analysis, determination, and conservation

2. Educational material development, including teaching materials, programming, and signage

3. Club programming and development

   
   

We use the phrase “project completion” here very loosely; if all goes well, this is really just laying the groundwork (the mycelium, if you will) for the fruiting body that will be a well-rounded, fungi conservation and education program. We also hope that this can provide a framework and example for other organizations to follow suit, spreading and reinforcing the importance of fungi appreciation. If you read this and become disappointed that the club is last on the list of phases, don’t worry! This phasing of project deliverables also remains flexible. We’ll likely need help with some of these projects and may call for volunteers to help with various activities, giving those seriously interested in joining the mushroom club an opportunity to start volunteering and become founding members of the club. For example, in the Spring and Summer of 2025 we hope to hold a few BioBlitz’s to help get a better inventory of flora on the WMCEA.

Last, we would be remiss if we did not thank a few volunteers and mentors who've helped get us this far. Longtime volunteer Jerry Hassinger deserves our substantial gratitude, for without his mentorship, guidance, and persistence, this project would not have been possible, or even dreamed up! We'd also like to thank conservation mycologist Hannah Huber, who is doing important fungi-related conservation and research for the state, and has been helpful in giving advice and support to the Center as we are getting our fungi sorted. Thank you both!

Thanks for joining us on this new adventure! Until next time - stay curious!