TOPIC: How do we stop illegal digging out of season?

New member here putting my two cents in. Hope to not get my head bit off on this volatile subject. I think, being from Ohio, ODNR could impose a very low cost permitting method with the digger's permit costing only five dollars. No permit no seng root sales! Criminals are scared of paper trails so I think this might deter criminals from selling and hopefully digging. In Ohio we have to have written permission on hand to dig seng and present it to an officer or game warden if they ask for it. The permit would then also be needed on hand. With the permit one gets an ounce of stratified seeds and instructions on how to plant with highest sucess rate. Then additional seeds can also be sold to diggers at a rediculously discounted rate if they realize they will have more time to plant. This should keep wild sim planters happy who plant on their own land as that discount on seeds will sure come in handy!

As for the theft, well, the golden rule is only for parents to teach now as schools no longer are allowed to teach right from wrong as that's not politacally correct (apparently). Character and morals must be instilled in our youth by us and no govt is gonna or could even do so if they wanted to as we don't feel much love out of them anyhow and with no love being in the mix there will be no positive outcome. The drug dealers need to get the aforementioned ten grand fine minimum (even if they drop names) if they are caught with any seng on premises during the bust. A mandatory one year sentence running concurrent that also don't get relieved if they drop names or pull whatever immoral means drug dealers use to get lesser sentences also needs to be imposed. The fine money could offset the discount price ODNR gives to diggers for the seeds.

What about the idea of regional ginseng diggers Co-Ops (similar to what farmers do). You need a diggers permit to join a co-op, and then buyers can give co-ops a better buying price due to bulk amounts. Those unwilling to join the co-ops can sell to the dealers at a reduced price. The co-op members can help self police themselves and their members from acting outside the law. As with everything else, I'm sure there are downsides and positives to this theory.

We don't need any more laws because they do not do any good if there is nobody willing to enforce them. Where I live, it is a felony to dig ginseng on another persons land without permission, but law enforcement has more important things to deal with.

People shoot at cars and homes quite frequently here, and unless someone actually gets shot or killed, good luck getting a deputy to respond. They don't want to become a target for anything less than a capital offense. If they do respond, it will be hours later. People that live here are used to having to deal with most things for themselves, then call the law afterwards to do the paperwork. At any one time, we will have only 2 or 3 deputies working an entire county that consists of many hundreds of square miles.

It's why most of us like living here. It's not a police state, and you can pretty much do what you want and be left alone by the government. It comes at a price though. You have to be prepared to take up arms, and use them when required. You must know how to defend yourself and your family.

Anyone that cannot understand that this is pretty much the law of the land in the mountains of the southeastern US probably lives in a place where the population density is much higher and the number of cops per hundred square miles of county is a whole lot higher.

Bob

Well put, Bob.

There seems to be a lot of ideas on this forum. I believe that it all starts first with us diggers. If you see or know of ANYONE that is poaching or digging out of season then then turn them in with as much evidence as possible. This is against the southern mans thinking to turn someone in but if we don't start now then they are going to cause a serious government crackdown on gensing and noone wants more gov. regulation. I believe that us diggers should always replant freshly produced seeds that come from where we find them and i don't believe in introducing seeds that come from other states into a different climate. I believe that northern gensing seeds are naturally different from southern seeds. They may be more tolerable to the cold, but I believe they are programmed differently than southern seeds. Whats wrong with keeping seeds that thrive in the state they were produced and not introducing them to other geographical areas. This at least keeps from transferring diseases to other states that may not have them. Next, I believe that most dealers are honest but they are the front lines of the battle. They must be regulated and made to adhere to the local laws. If one is caught, then take their liscense away and never allow them to get another one. Slap stiff fines on them also. Finally, if the feds start talking about making private land owners get permits to grow or harvest on their own land we need to stand together like never before and shut this down. What we do on our own land is noones business but our own. If more people would grow on their own land and produce more gensing then we could show that we can monitor and control our gensing ourselves. I'm sick and tired of stories I hear where dealers buy gensing cheap and then hold on to it till the price goes up and makes a killing off of it. This seems to be just as big a problem as poachers and we need to fix this also. What is wrong with making them sell all the gensing they buy at the end of the year and not holding on to it?

seen a guy digging yesterday[out of season]called the warden,he didn't seem to interested,said he would try and get over to the woods in 4 or 5 hours ,I said never mind he will be gone by then.i went back over to the woods and ran the dirty s.o.b out of the woods and I mean we ran...he dropped his shovel but not his appeared to be a half a bread sack of ill gotten root...I was fighting mad..probably a good thing I didn't catch up to him...I would have went to jail on a assault charge...

Hey Chieftain, this is exactly what I am talking about. Darn good job approaching the poacher, I am proud of you. It takes a man to stand up and actually do what is right. If the darn wardens don't want to do their jobs, then report their butts also and tell their superiors what happened and how they shunned their duties off by saying they will look into it 4 or 5 hours later. Everyone, its time to stand up against poachers and do what we have to do to preserve our God given heritage to harvest wild gensing. I have personally been in this situation and I have found that 90% of people act just like the man you ran off. They don't know who you are and assume they are on private land of that they have been spotted by the warden. Most just turn and run to try and hide their sorry, good for nothing, lazy, poaching faces. Chieftain, in my opinion you are what is right with gensing diggers and you make me proud. Keep up the good work and lets show these poachers that we are the ones they better watch out for.

I got a call from a buddy two days ago. He said to keep my eyes open for a van full of asians w/ Mass. plates. They were run off or spotted a couple times in my county this week in, or coming out of the woods w/ bags in their hands on posted property. One farmer tried to stop them on his land and they ran off. I don't know much more about it.

I agree, we have to police it ourselves. The wardens and police can not be expected to be everywhere. Sorry to hear about that Chieftain!

Maya,i know the wardens around here are busy a lot of the time.this warden may have been on a nother call,my emotions were running high at the time.all and all our wardens do a good job.hope you can get your poachers stopped..2 bear what really burnt my azz was after the guy run off I walk the hillside he was on .I compared it to loggers out west ,clear cutting timber.this guy clear dug..i found tops of 2 prongers not 3 inches tall.he dug every plant he came across no matter what the size..not only was he poaching ,he didn't even have a speck of respect for the plants he was poaching..i just don't get some people...I guess greed rules his life..

You think he was stealing them for transplant Chieftain?