Mycologist, Paul Stamets, has been a mushroom enthusiast for over 30 years. In the course of his work, Paul has written six books on mushroom information, cultivation, use, and identification, including: The Mushroom Cultivator, MycoMedicinals®: an Informational Treatise on Mushrooms, and Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save The World.

"The time to act is now. Waiting for science and society to wake up to the importance of these ancient Old Growth fungi is perilously slow and narrow in vision. The meager attempts thus far may be too little, too late. Unless we collectively pool our resources, the mushroom genome will become increasingly threatened, and therefore, our very existence may be at stake. The loss of these keystone organisms should be an ecological call-to-arms for all concerned about our children's future and the future of this planet..

The rainforests of the Pacific Northwest may harbor mushroom species with profound medicinal properties. At the current rates of extinctions, this last refuge of the mushroom genome should be at the top of the list of priorities for mycologists, environmentalists and government. If I can help advance this knowledge, I will have done my part to protect life on this planet." - Paul Stamets