[MPWG] RE: Deer Foraging Threatens Ginseng Survival

[Bob Beyfuss]

As a person who has been previously interviewed by NPR about ginseng by a 
very good reporter (Jon Miller), let me begin by saying that when you have 
a tape recorder running for 5 or 6 hours or even longer, there are bound to 
be things included or excluded that you wish you could change.  I suspect 
that Dr McGraw has other ideas about ginseng conservation in addition to 
what ended up on the air. An earlier reply to this message by Jennifer 
brought up the issue of cultivation within "gated" communities. This is 
precisely the environment that ginseng growers provide and if such "wild 
simulated" production can ease collection pressure or provide refuge or 
havens from deer, it needs to be encouraged.

At 12:26 PM 2/11/2005 -0500, Sonya wrote:
>(((McGraw said there are three options: Do nothing and watch ginseng 
>likely disappear from the landscape; reintroduce deer predators such as 
>mountain lions and wolves; or change hunting regulations that would lead 
>to a reduction in deer populations.)))
>
>Source: West Virginia University Released: Thu 10-Feb-2005, 14:10 ET
>http://www.nis.wvu.edu Deer Foraging Threatens Ginseng Survival
>
>Isn't the harvesting of the ginseng for human purposes interference in the 
>natural ecosystem ?? Why wouldn't targets for  measuring, mitigating, and 
>managing the *human* impacts of the harvesting be addressed as well? The 
>impact of the harvesting by humans of the ginseng as a cash crop, possibly 
>it being overexploited and the natural ecosystems being damaged does not 
>seem to be addressed.....this seems to be economics based for the cash 
>crop value..-----Sonya
>
>----------------------------
>Sonya  PLoS Medicine The open-access general medical journal from the 
>Public Library of Science Inaugural issue: Autumn 2004   Share your 
>discoveries with the world. http://www.plosmedicine.org
>
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