Matsutake are a big deal here in Oregon too[1]. Interestingly they are a big enough business that you're only allowed to pick a few without a license, though I would bet that enforcement varies...
There are migrant gangs of Matsutake poachers roaming Northern California and Oregon. Working for the National Park Service / USDA Forest Service, we'd have unrelated scientific monitoring equipment destroyed and stolen by these groups assuming that they were camera traps. There are, of course, migrant mushroom foragers in general; but the high sale value of Matsutake invites criminal involvement.
Yes, I guess in that sense getting a ticket for trying to take a few extra pounds home to roast would be a lot better than a beatdown or worse in the woods!
1: https://oregondiscovery.com/white-matsutake