Update: Gov. Polis signed the state mushroom bill into law on 3/31/25. end
Commonly known as the 'emperor' Agaricus julius is an edible mushroom that is typically found around 9,000 feet in elevation under spruce trees. Thornton High School teacher, Greg Sanchez, started lobbying for a state mushroom in 2021 as an experiment for his civic students. Here he is speaking with the Sopris Sun's Raleigh Burleigh on air recently.
GS: "In my civics class, we have, one of our units involves civic engagement. And so I initially reached out to my representative at that point because I wanted to model to the students something that we could possibly do. Starting from there, I had some trouble getting a response, but I kept at it and eventually we got support from Representative Phillips this year.
Representative Jacque Phillips is one of two prime sponsors who introduced the bill in late January. Burley also spoke to Hamilton Pevec, who is the president of the Western Colorado Psychological Association. After Sanchez's initial movement, lost momentum, the Western Colorado Mycological Association stepped to revive it and nominated Agaricus julius
HP: "I've had an affinity for Agaricus julius for quite some time, as a rare and precious and delicious edible mushroom, and it was actually the very first mushroom costume that I made was an Agaricus julius. And so I immediately nominated Agaricus julius and it wasn't very difficult to convince the others because it ticked most of the boxes- all the boxes as a nominee.
RB: "Okay. Could you tell us more about those boxes?"
HP: "Yeah. So it was unique to Colorado. No other state had to have it as their state mushroom, as their state mushroom. So that eliminated Boletus rubriceps our Colorado Porcini, it eliminated the Chanterelle.
RB: "So another state has the Colorado Porcini as their mushroom?"
HP: "Yeah. Utah."
RB: "Oh, darn."
According to Sanchez, when they started this effort, only two states had official mushrooms. Now, Colorado joins seven other states, including California and Texas. Pevec says that it's a big deal to acknowledge that long overlooked life form.
HP: It's indicative of the cultural shift that's happening in North America right now in embracing mycology and mushrooms as part of the conversation. That's one of the things that's super important about having a state mushroom, is that we're acknowledging that these organisms exist in an official facet, and that can open up the conversation to more, more impactful things like conservation and education.
Now all the bill needs is to be signed by the governor for this special little mushroom to be Colorado's newest mascot.
