Somewhere Between: Social Embeddedness and the Spectrum of Wild Edible Huckleberry Harvest and Use

This case study is centered in northeast Washington State and northern Idaho and focuses on the social ecology of the wild edible huckleberry. The theoretical notion of social embeddedness is the lens through which the harvest and use of this much‐prized resource is viewed and analyzed. Using grounded theory as an over‐arching method, qualitative data were collected over two harvesting seasons regarding who harvests huckleberries in the study area and why. Four categories of use/users were identified. The results suggest a rich tapestry of social relations surrounding this resource that belies the simplistic notion of “commercial” vs. “recreational” use. These relations include temporal, geographic, economic, and cultural dimensions. Policy implications include the need to move beyond the commercial/recreational dichotomy in regulating the harvest of berries as well as the need to link the notions of community forestry and subsistence to the harvest of non‐timber forest products more generally.