as japanese production of "t. matsutake" has declined with the growing presence of the pine-killing nematode, bursaphelenchus xylophilus, there is an increasingly global matsutake harvesting market of related species. exports from western north america bloomed over the last four decades, driving prices to a peak in the 1990s when western matsutakes reached up to $600 per pound. prices have since declined dramatically, but the annual matsutake harvest still drives economies in many rural pacific northwest areas.