A huckleberry harvest from Mount Hood Meadows in Oregon. Photo from KWSO / Facebook

Members of the Warm Springs Tribes of Oregon are exercising their treaty rights and picking huckleberries.

The season started earlier than expected, Oregon Public Broadcasting reported. It usually begins in mid to late August but the tribe already held its opening Huckleberry Feast, or Wiwinu Sapálwit, last week.

"This has been an unusual year," said Bobby Brunoe, the tribe's natural resources manager, told OPB. "We didn't have a good snowpack, but we had about the same amount of moisture. It came as rain instead of snow. Huckleberries like moisture."

The tribe retains a treaty right to gather huckleberries on public lands. The area includes Mt. Hood National Forest.

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Tribal Members Report Early Start To Huckleberry Season (Oregon Public Broadcasting 7/28)