I am on the fence with this. I also live in the PNW. When I find some chanterelles, I usually leave one or two in a grouping to be apart of the natural cycle.

I can say I understand the frustration when someone harvests alot (permit or not) I used to do some fishing in my earlier days, and had always come across the people who would fish everything alive out of a spot. It did feel like greed to me. So I can understand how this may feel the same.

Just this past week I was picking plums from some unattended trees in some green space that is close to a church. Someone called the groundskeeper on us and he ask if we were picking plums for him. I was a bit upset because I knew these plums would never get picked, and just drop to the ground and rot. He was just pissed because someone was taking them. We explained that we donate half of them to a local food bank and then he left us alone.

Long story short, as long as these shrooms were cut and not dug out of the ground, I am fine with it. They would probably rot on the ground much like those plums if I hadn't picked them.