Buffalo River Officials Fighting Plant Thefts

[Outside Bend]

I had no doubts that the idea of spending 150.00 (plus wages) to help protect a potential 40.00 worth of a plant was "Defendable".

My question is more along the line of.... Is this harvesting of ginsing within the state forest REALLY an ongoing problem? Really?

I'm thinking there's more money to be made (via plant theives) by picking up pine cones. Or beer cans.

Aluminum: $,45/lb

Pine cones: $ 6.00/lb

Wild Ginseng: $200/lb

There's a world of difference between the three.

http://www.blueridgenow.com/article/20121019/NEWS/121019715

http://www.nationalparkstraveler.com/2009/02/gingseng-poachers-great-smoky-mountains-national-park-receive-jail-time

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2012/oct/26/ginseng-poachers-nabbed-at-cumberland-gap-park/

http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/printheadline.cfm?type=Incidents&id=6452

http://www2.wspa.com/news/2012/nov/13/9-arrested-ginseng-poaching-nc-forests-ar-4961999/

Just as you wouldn't manage sturgeon like you do crappie, you wouldn't manage ginseng the way you do other woodland wildflowers. It's a long-lived, slow growing plant, taking 8-10 years to set seed and can live to be nearly a hundred. Add to that folks pay a premium for the slow-grown, wild roots, and the fact that the plant only grows in the highest quality woodlands, and it's easy to understand why managers would be so interested in protecting (and the places it lives) from digging.

[fishinwrench]

A full pound of dried ginseng root is a LOT of work. And it might say somewhere online that you can get 200 for it......but I'd challenge you to find someone who will give you 70.00

[Greasy B]

I recall getting a shuttle from a gentlemen on Piney a while back. He bragged to me about all his secret rooting spots on NF lands. He also pointed out a road side buyer sitting on HWY J. I don't remember him saying how much he was making but judging from his appearance it wouldn't take much to improve his standard of living.

[tjulianc]

A full pound of dried ginseng root is a LOT of work. And it might say somewhere online that you can get 200 for it......but I'd challenge you to find someone who will give you 70.00

here is a 86 grams dried that is all ready up to $81 plus $7.94 for shipping (2 bids currently). 86 grams is less than a quarter pound.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WILD-DRIED-GINSENG-ROOTS-86-GRAMS-WILD-HERBS-/150976618101?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2326e85e75

Here is a certified 1/2 pound and the asking price is $599.99.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/WILD-GINSENG-ROOTS-DRY-CERTIFIED-OHIO-OLD-8-OZ-VERY-OLD-1-2-POUND-/160943650099?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2578fd3533

[Outside Bend]

Thanks TJ. There was also a thread on Trapperman where folks were getting $300-$500+ per pound this year.

Whether it's $70 or $300, the point is there's a lucrative market for the plant- if folks weren't interested, they wouldn't be shelling out that sort of cash. And given the slow-growing nature of the plant, coupled with the fact it'll only thrive in high-quality woodlands, special precautions need to be taken to make sure it's not overharvested, and the habitats it lives in aren't trashed.

It is work to collect ginseng, but folks who find the patches on park lands could be tempted to dig the plants up to make a quick buck. The park's efforts to tag the plants is just an attempt to minimize that temptation.

[fishinwrench]

So if somebody digs up a bunch and sells it on ebay, how do they get busted? Do the people who buy it inspect it under UV light (as a common procedure) and then call the feds, who then begin a track-down investigation, arrest, and prosecution ?

Good lord. In the end I'm not too sure it wouldn't be less costly and more effective to hire around-the-clock guards for the stuff. Is it even a native plant?

[ness]

It's not about the market or ecological value of ginseng -- it's about pulling up plants on park land. I suspect they are doing this because of a particularly bad problem in that park. Kudos to them if they figured out an economical way to reduce the thefts.

[Al Agnew]

Probably the theory behind "tagging" the ginseng is more deterrence rather than catching the thieves. If thieves know the plants they dig CAN be traced back to the park, and they can't "grandmaw" it (a term that was originally used in illegal timber cutting, where the perps would just say they cut the timber on "Grandmaw's place"), they might be a lot more reluctant to dig it up in the first place. It doesn't do a whole lot of good to the resource to catch them after they've already dug up a hillside full of it.

[Outside Bend]

So if somebody digs up a bunch and sells it on ebay, how do they get busted? Do the people who buy it inspect it under UV light (as a common procedure) and then call the feds, who then begin a track-down investigation, arrest, and prosecution ?

Good lord. In the end I'm not too sure it wouldn't be less costly and more effective to hire around-the-clock guards for the stuff. Is it even a native plant?

Yes, it's a native plant. If it weren't, NPS would be working to eradicate it, not preserve it.

Along with the UV and magnetic components are visible-spectrum dyes- different colors for different agencies. No fancy lights needed- a dyed root came from somewhere it shouldn't have been harvested. And since color is a major category by which wild ginseng is graded, and consumers are looking for natural-colored roots- artificially dyeing them bright orange or pink essentially destroys their market value. Again, it's about reducing the temptation- if there's no money to be had, there's no incentive to dig them up.

[fishinwrench]

THAT makes sense to me. I was under the assumption that it had to be examined under a black light or something to detect the "hidden signature". But yeah, if you dug a few up and they were all "not normal" looking, you'd probably leave that patch and go looking elsewhere. So the people/person that got busted actually tried to sell some crazy colored roots? Who the hell did they think would buy it? LOL