[MPWG] Poaching, was re: ginseng/hemlock

[jmdavis2 at ncsu.edu]

Great suggetions, Bob.  I hope all extension and NGO personnel who work
with ginseng growers keep this information to distribute to new growers. 
Documenting what you have before you lose it is SO necessary.  I get
several requests every year from insurance adjusters asking me to validate
a claim a ginseng grower has made about his/her patch that was poached. 
Rarely are there photographs.  So, if I didn't personally see the
planting, with the incredible variability there it from one ginseng
planting to another, how can I possibly put an estimated value on one
without visual evidence?

Jeanine Davis


> Hi all
> I really don't think you can hide ginseng from poachers. It is like trying
> to hide the holiday presents from your teenage kids! I have thoughts on
> poaching ginseng that may be somewhat relevant to other medicinal plants.
> Bob
>
> Thoughts on Poaching Ginseng
>
> I think it is time to make the distinction between poaching and grand
> larceny. In the South and Midwest where much rural land is owned by large
> utility companies and the Federal government, hunting, fishing and
> poaching
> ginseng on this land have become accepted practices among some local
> residents. When the victim of poaching is a large, perhaps unknowing and
> seemingly uncaring corporate entity it is difficult for me to become too
> upset by local people harvesting a resource that they may have planted
> themselves or at least have tended over many years, especially if they
> have
> stewarded that resource, protecting it from deer and other threats and are
> the main reason it still exists.  I have seen ginseng patches destined for
> development successfully transplanted elsewhere on public property
> unbeknownst to the property owners. In NY when I think of poaching, I
> think
> about shooting an extra deer or perhaps taking a deer out of season for
> food. In many cases it does appear to be a victimless crime. (unless you
> are a deer of course!)
>
> When it comes to stealing someone's private property, almost literally
> from
> a back yard or adjacent to a house, then it is time to become outraged.
> There is no justification for outright thievery nor is there any excuse
> for
> ignoring such behavior by dealers who knowingly purchase that ginseng.
> The
> NY State and most other state's ginseng regulations clearly state that
> wild
> ginseng may only be gathered on private property with permission of the
> property owners during the official harvest season. Diggers selling wild
> ginseng should be prepared to show proof of landowner permission when they
> sell their roots. If this means sharing some of the money from sale of the
> roots with the landowner, so be it. When one hunts and kills deer on
> someone's else's property with permission, it is traditional and proper to
> offer the landowner some of the bounty.
>
> I strongly suspect that much of what is sold today as "wild" ginseng is in
> fact "wild simulated". This is ginseng that somebody planted years ago
> either on private or public land. In some cases the seed was gathered from
> wild plants but in many cases it was purchased from elsewhere. Generations
> of diggers have nurtured this resource and in many cases have prevented it
> from being extirpated in a given area. It is time for ginseng growers and
> diggers to get rid of their presumed cover of being anonymous. If you are
> anonymous or invisible how can anyone steal from you?  If you "secretly"
> grow ginseng on your property and someone steals it from you what recourse
> do you have? How can you even prove that you had something stolen? You may
> think you have a secure and well protected spot but in fact your "secret"
> garden may be well known among local thieves who are just waiting for it
> to
> become worth their effort to steal.
>
>       So, what is a digger/grower to do? Here are a few important steps.
> First, assume that your private patch is not really private at all. Expect
> to be a target and act accordingly. Document every seed you plant and
> every
> rootlet you transplant. Save receipts from seeds purchased and all
> supplies
> used to grow your crop. Take many, many photos of your crop each and every
> year. Record everything you have growing and it's approximate value. This
> will help to justify a theft loss on your income taxes should one occur.
> Check with your insurance company to see if your ginseng crop is covered
> against theft loss. Let the local Cooperative Extension agricultural agent
> know you are a grower as well as your local Farm Service Agency Director.
> Show them your gardens so they will be able to corroborate your story
> should you get ripped off.  Put a fence around the garden and post it
> well.
> Nothing quite denotes ownership more then a fence even if it is only a
> three foot chicken wire enclosure.
>
> If your garden is worth significant money, spend some money to protect it!
> Motion activated "Critter Gitter" alarms cost about $60. Fake video
> cameras
> cost about $10 each, real ones cost more but the technology exists today
> that allows monitoring a garden one half mile from your house while
> watching it on your TV monitor. Would you leave the keys to your Lexus in
> the ignition and leave it parked on the street in an unknown neighborhood
> when you went away on vacation?  Avoid the temptation to install "booby"
> traps. At best, anyone hurt by a "booby" trap, even a lowlife thief, will
> likely be able to successfully sue you for using it.  At worst you will
> maim or kill an innocent person.
>
> Finally, be prepared to do whatever it takes to catch and prosecute the
> thief. I know a very successful grower in West Virginia who is well known
> locally as someone who will spend $1,000 if necessary to catch a thief who
> steals $100 worth of his ginseng. Consequently, no one steals his ginseng.
> If we can develop and support a significant ginseng industry we need to
> make ourselves well known to agency people, politicians and police.
>
> At 06:47 PM 3/5/2006, Michael Schenk wrote:
>>Jennifer,
>>
>>I'll probably plant some hemlock, even apart from herb cover planning,
>>just because there isn't any hemlock nearby that I've seen, so it might
>> be
>>spared from the woolly adelgid, which is decimating hemlocks at a higher
>>elevation nearby.  I'd like to have some scattered survivors to
>> repopulate
>>hemlocks if the adelgids get defeated eventually.  Meanwhile, I'll
>>probably throw some black cohosh, bloodroot, ginseng, and goldenseal
>> under
>>them and near them, and see what survives.
>>
>>Another question that's related to why I'm looking into planting ginseng
>>under conifers is to discourage poaching.  This might be off-topic for
>>MPWG, so I'll be glad to drop it if it is.  I've had some mature plants
>> go
>>missing, and I'm not sure whether to animals or to people, but I have had
>>a number of neighbors bring up the subject of ginseng with me.  I usually
>>say we're at too low an elevation for it to grow naturally, and leave it
>>there, but I see the poaching problem looming large in the future. I'd
>>rather switch to other crops than have to take a lot of anti-poaching
>>measures; no one there seems to pay attention to BC, bloodroot, or
>>goldenseal.  If I can confuse and mislead poachers by growing under mixed
>>pines, I'll try that.
>>
>>One approach I tried this year was to clip off the tops  when the digging
>>season opened.  I put the berries in the ground on the spot.  The leaves
>>make a good ginseng tea for my own use.  I can't tell if that helped or
>>not, and I'm waiting to see if it damaged that plot.
>>
>>I'd like to hear other ideas about poaching.
>>
>>List, sorry about the uncorrected title in my last post.
>>
>>Cheers,
>>Mike
>>
>> >
>>Message: 3
>>Date: Sun, 5 Mar 2006 18:09:36 EST
>>From: Cafesombra at aol.com
>>Subject: Re: [MPWG] ginseng / hemlock
>>To: MPWG at lists.plantconservation.org
>>Message-ID: <278.5d5b912.313cc9b0 at aol.com>
>>Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>>You're right about hemlock being a bad idea.  The root system is broad
>> and
>>shallow right on the surface panning out from the trunk.  Nothing  much
>> grows
>>under the hemlocks, coptis maybe, partridge berry, black trumpet
>> shrooms,
>>indian pipes.  That's about it.  That's under a giant, not
>>a  sapling.  Nothing
>>under the saplings.
>>That hemlocks are under attack is of course a good reason to try
>> stewarding
>>them on your land.  Here in Central Pa at least where I am we still have
>> a
>>great deal of giant grandmother/father hemlocks, let's hope it stays
>>that  way,
>>cheers, Jennifer
>> >
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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> Disclaimer
> Any advice given on this list regarding diagnosis or treatments etc.
> reflects ONLY the opinion of the individual who posts the message. The
> information contained in posts is not intended nor implied to be a
> substitute for professional medical advice relative to your specific
> medical condition or question. All medical and other healthcare
> information that is discussed on this list should be carefully reviewed by
> the individual reader and their qualified healthcare professional. Posts
> do not reflect any official opinions or positions of the Plant
> Conservation Alliance.
>