[MPWG] ARTICLE: Poachers Looting National Parks of Treasures

[scott harris]

Olivia,

Please check out this site 
http://www.cgfi.org/materials/articles/2002/jan_2_02.htm and then tell me 
that the USFWS, Dept. of Interior et al, have any credibility left. The link 
you posted about poachers depleting our "National Treasures" like black 
bear, butterflies, ginseng etc. overlooks the fact that our greatest 
National Treasure is FREEDOM.

Big government, CITES, USFWS and the Dept. of Interior seem to have made it 
their goal to limit every freedom we have left. Granted, poaching does occur 
on both Federal and private lands, but the biggest culprits work under the 
auspices of the Federal Government.

Perhaps this self-described "old-timer," Skip Wissinger should be planting 
some ginseng seeds while traversing the 300 square mile park????

>From the article: "If there's something with a dollar amount attached to it 
in a park, somebody is trying to make a profit off it," said Dennis Barnett, 
law enforcement administrator for the Park Service." Does this include the 
private concessions in parks, where private companies submit bids to the 
Federal government to run concession services?

I believe it was Jim Corbin who developed the dye used for ginseng roots and 
I commend him for his dedication and long hours of work to thwart ginseng 
poaching. However, until we (registered ginseng dealers) are issued the 
electronic equipment to detect these poached roots at the point of purchase, 
it will not have any effect on the illegal harvesting of ginseng from state 
parks. If, for some reason, the USFWS would find or should I say appropriate 
the funds from the already overburdened tax payers to issue us such 
detection equipment, this brings up the question of what would the ginseng 
dealer do if he found 'marked' roots? Will we be deputized as Federal Agents 
with the authority to arrest and hold the 'criminal'? Do we go ahead and buy 
the roots and then report the digger to the USFWS only to have them 
confiscated and we wait 5 years or more to be reimbursed for monies paid out 
for said illegal roots?

I have, for the past ten years, done all I can to do to convince the 
agencies that oversee the harvest of wild ginseng that all root harvesters 
need to be registered and attend classes on ethical harvesting. My calls for 
such legislation have been ignored or passed off with lame excuses that "we 
don't have the funds...". If they can fund projects as described in the 
above link that I suggest you read and post to all MPWG members then they 
can find the money to educate the harvesters.

Just another attempt to bring some logic to the surface and inform the 
general public about the real agenda of the Endangered Species Act, CITES 
restrictions and "facts" based on junk science.

Scott Harris
Sylvan Botanicals
Cooperstown, NY
www.catskillginseng.com

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Olivia Kwong" <plant at plantconservation.org>
To: <mpwg at lists.plantconservation.org>
Sent: Monday, October 24, 2005 12:29 PM
Subject: [MPWG] ARTICLE: Poachers Looting National Parks of Treasures


> For the full article:
> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/23/AR2005102300796.html
>
> By Juliet Eilperin
> Washington Post Staff Writer
> Monday, October 24, 2005; Page A08
>
> SHENANDOAH NATIONAL PARK, Va. -- A self-described "old-timer," Skip
> Wissinger has spent 32 years traversing the park's 300 square miles and
> identifying its natural treasures. But now many of the park's most prized
> resources -- its American ginseng plants, black bears and unusual
> butterflies -- are disappearing.
>
>
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