Arrests of ginseng poachers in Great Smoky Mountains National Park used to be a ranger activity that began after the Labor Day weekend.
With a pound of dried roots bringing $500 at the end of last season, ginseng poachers are starting much earlier this year.
Park rangers have busted poachers in three different areas of the park during the past several weeks, said Chief Ranger Jason Houck. The first was on July 26, when Steve Kloster and two other rangers arrested three men who were digging ginseng plants around Cosby Campground. The group was spotted carrying pointed sticks typically used for digging ``seng.'' On inspection, the rangers found one of the men had 67 ginseng roots in a fishing vest and 39 more roots in his pants pockets. More plants, as well as marijuana, were found in the trio's tent, Houck said.
The suspects were taken to jail and later fined as well as forced to pay restitution for the plants, he said. ``One had a prior arrest and conviction for digging `seng' in the park,'' said Houck.
Two other ginseng busts were made by rangers Jerry Grubb and Helen McNutt. Grubb arrested one group of suspects along Little River Road after he pulled them over for an expired license plate. The group that ranger McNutt arrested was digging next to an overlook parking area. Both groups were taken to jail. Members of one group have been fined and forced to pay restitution, said Houck. The other group is awaiting trial.
With the ginseng season just really beginning, rangers will be setting up stakeouts to catch even more poachers, Houck said.The worst poaching is in mid September when the plant's red berries make it easy to spot. Fortunately, at that time there's a break in the summer and fall tourist seasons.
``We spend a lot of time on ginseng for a very simple reason -- we're able to,'' Houck said.
Studies show that legal and illegal harvesting of ginseng is putting pressure on its survival throughout its entire growing range. Thhe perenniall herb, which once grew abundantly throughout the Eastern woodlands, has been commercially exported from North America since 1716.
``Even in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where ginseng collection has been prohibited for half a century, the populations are diminishing,'' said park officials in a report on the problem. ``Extensive illegal collecting coupled with slow plant reproduction and growth has considerably reduced the plant's colonies in the park,'' said Keith Langdon, park resource biologist.
Ginseng harvesting has traditionally been popular in Appalachia, according to Langdon, who added that many Depression-era families found it to be a valuable source of income.
Most of the roots are exported to the Orient, where ginseng has been used for medicinal purposes and as an aphrodisiac for thousands of years.
The popularity of ginseng as a medicinal herb has surged in the United States and other countries during the past two decades.
- BY: Marti Davis, News-Sentinel staff writer
- SOURCE: The Knoxville News-Sentinel1996.09.03
|
Newsdesk