TOPIC: Ginseng growers and responsable harvesters

Guys and gals,

I think I've mentioned this before but I do believe we have helped the population of ginseng in alot of areas.
I'm begining to see alot of young plants in places it was almost wiped out. I really believe where we have planted the berries back has had good impact on the survival.
Also there is no doubt some of our wild simulated berries gets carried off for pretty good distances and take root thus repopulating areas where the seng had almost been dug out.
What is your alls opinion?

rootman

Rootman I know beyond doubght that me and a few others have helped our areas tremendously by follwing good steward ideas and planting lots of seed I am about to go take some photos of alot of my 2 year olds and post them.

Billy.

Rootman, I have no doubt that in areas where resposible diggers who are good stewards visit the ginseng population is helped out tremendously; however there are areas where poachers have the opposite effect:angry: Overall I'm not sure how much if any ground we are gaining. Most certainly we are gaining ground in the areas that we visit, but I think that other areas are being depleted. There is a state park near me that I have found just a few young ginseng plants and tried to keep an eye on this population for a couple years, and even though it is not legal to dig there, people are still doing it. So in the big picture I just don't know... I guess time will tell, but the only way to know for sure is to see the total amount exported annually trend upward, and even this will be biased by guys mixing in woodsgrown plants. I'm starting to ramble on now... sorry guys:blush:

Billy, looking foreward to seeing some pics of your 2 year olds.

It's a good ramble, 5Prong.

I'm not real sure what effect is being had on the mountain area I work in, well, except directly in my patches.

It's be nice to know some more folks in that area that are 'sangers but I guess that due to secretive nature of our business [thanks poachers] it's not likely.

There's an interesting article in this month's National Geographic about \"Golden Worms' in Asia. these are larve of a Ghost Moth that are infected by some sort of fungus, which turns these larve into a sort of health stimulant for the asians. they are being dug out faster than the moths and fungus can make replacements. their value is [per ounce] is more that the value of gold. I bring this up in relation to the depletion statements in this post.

It's not just 'sang that gets depleted, and not just here in the US... I guess that it's human nature to be greedy, and take more from the planet than it can sustain.