History
The Puget Sound Mycological Society was founded in 1964 by a small group of visionaries including Dr. Dixie Lee Ray, then director of the Pacific Science Center; Dr. Daniel E. Stuntz; and Ben Woo. In the more than 50 years since its founding, PSMS has grown to become one of the largest mushroom societies in North America.
PSMS is organized as a nonprofit educational and scientific organization under section 501(C)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. A board of elected trustees and officers conducts the society's business. Regular board meetings are held the Monday after membership meetings and are open to interested members. Membership meetings are held monthly, September through June. The Society also has a number of committees whose activities assist the Board in achieving its goals, including Education, Field Trips, Membership, the Wild Mushroom Show, Cultivation and more. Committee heads are conferred by the Board. PSMS is a volunteer organization with no paid positions. Members are expected to contribute time and effort in helping the society to prosper. Fundraising for PSMS is done primarily through sales of books and merchandise, as well as admissions to the Wild Mushroom Show in the fall.
Mission
The mission of PSMS is to foster the understanding and appreciation of Mycology as a hobby and a science, and to assist related institutions in these purposes. The society represents a variety of interests in fungi: the pothunter, the adventurous gourmet, the weekend naturalists, the serious amateur and the professional mycologist. Education is the main focus of the Society. Opportunities to learn come through membership meetings, classes, field trips, the Ben Woo Foray, the Wild Mushroom Show, and volunteer projects with the University of Washington and the Department of Natural Resources.
Bylaws
Inclusivity Statement
For over fifty years, the Puget Sound Mycological Society (PSMS) has nurtured collaboration amongst its members for an understanding and appreciation of the wide diversity of mushroom species in the Pacific Northwest. We also depend on a diverse membership to support our mission to foster the understanding and appreciation of mycology as a hobby and a science. In recent months, as systematic inequality in U.S. society is revealed to a broader audience, it becomes clearer that inequality imposes barriers on marginalized groups to participation in a wide variety of activities. PSMS opposes all barriers that limit participation in mycology. PSMS and its board members support a more diverse, inclusive, and welcoming organization where all people, especially those who are underrepresented in our organization and society at large, can enjoy mushrooms and all of the activities associated with them. We realize this will be an on-going conversation and are looking to our members for suggestions on ways to increase diversity, inclusivity, and welcoming. Thank you as we join together to make this long-overdue journey toward systemic equality!