TOPIC: End of the season in the CNF

I finished up the digging season today in the Cherokee National Forest. It was fun and my wife and I learned a lot in the two weeks that we had a permit to dig sang. I have a lot of mixed feelings about the new changes and some eye opening experiences. First: I wish that my wife could have gotten off from work more than she did to be with me. Having her along was great fun and icing on the cake. Second: I could not believe that there were so many bears in the area that we hunted. It made you stay alert all the time. Third, and maybe the most important is, that I don't know how we are going to ever get the ginseng poaching problem solved. They were there in numbers every day and they were being hauled in early in the morning by women and dropped off at a spot and after hunting a section out they would be picked up by women again. Most of the poachers were coming in from North Carolina and crossing into Tennessee. A couple were coming in from Tennessee. I called the Game Warden and reported it after getting into a cuss fight with one that I walked right up on while he was digging. He and a Lady National Forest Officer came up several times and tried to do their best to curb or catch some of the offenders. It is such a large area that it is almost impossible to stop.
All, in all, it was a great sport or activity and I look forward to doing this again next year if I get my name drawn again. I hope to see you guys in the woods sometime.
Hugh

The Game Warden (I can never remember his name but it starts with an \"H\") checked me out on Saturday not only for my' Ginseng Harvesting Permit but the amount of roots I dug that day (which was the last 5 roots I needed) and also checked out my' Hunting License since I was Bow Hunting. We had a very long discussion concerning the poachers. He stated that he and his partner (Officer S. H., as I am not going to mention names) had arrested two Ginseng Poachers just last week and arrested two Ginseng Poachers earlier in September (I believe that is what he said) that work for a certain Ginseng Dealer we know. While talking, a four wheeler (ATV) could be heard in the distance and Officer S. H. called him to assist in locating it and checking out the rider or riders. While they can't be in this area 24/7, I am sure that these two dedicated Officers are doing everything they can to stop the Ginseng poaching!


Frank

Do the wardens still have a job???

rickyc,

I'm pretty sure they still are working, but it is going to take a real concerted effort to stop the poaching that is going on in the Cherokee National Forest. It is almost on the level of smuggling drugs into this country. It is almost as big as growing Marijuana and a huge amount of money is involved in it. Ginseng dealers are a big part of the problem and a lot of it could be stopped there. The CBS Report and what Frank had to say about a local dealer having a digger that was caught is typical of what has been going on for years. The legal digging season is over for this year, but I would lay down good money that the poachers will be in there until the last plants have gone down. They will also be right back as soon as plants come up in the Spring. Sad,sad situation.

Hugh

rickyc wrote:

Do the wardens still have a job???

Yes, they still have a job! The Game Wardens work for the TWRA (Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency) an agency of the State of Tennessee and therefore, they are State Employees. Although the TWRA receives some Federal funding, the TWRA is mainly funded by License and Permit sales as well as the State. Although the Federal Government is shutdown and all Federal Lands are basically closed, the Game Wardens have keys to all of the gates within the National Forests here and some roads cannot be closed due to private lands and even some homes which are scattered amongst the NF lands.


Frank

Hugh Hartsell wrote:

rickyc,

I'm pretty sure they still are working, but it is going to take a real concerted effort to stop the poaching that is going on in the Cherokee National Forest. It is almost on the level of smuggling drugs into this country. It is almost as big as growing Marijuana and a huge amount of money is involved in it. Ginseng dealers are a big part of the problem and a lot of it could be stopped there. The CBS Report and what Frank had to say about a local dealer having a digger that was caught is typical of what has been going on for years. The legal digging season is over for this year, but I would lay down good money that the poachers will be in there until the last plants have gone down. They will also be right back as soon as plants come up in the Spring. Sad,sad situation.

Hugh

Several Ginseng Dealers and some of the Ginseng Poachers are now on the Game Warden's radar screen per see. I believe that it is just a matter of time before many of them will get caught in the act of buying/selling poached Ginseng roots and undersized roots. In any case, they are being watched and some know this which will help somewhat curtail the illegal digging, buying and selling.


Frank