AGENTS WATCH FOR GINSENG ROOT POACHERS

MARBLE HILL -- Bollinger County Conservation Agent Mike Lancaster has used deer decoys to catch poachers, but he never thought a patch of ginseng would serve a similar purpose. Nor did he think that twice he would replant the same group of illegally dug roots.

In July, Lancaster seized about 80 ginseng roots from "poachers" who had dug the roots out of season. The scene of the crime was familiar. Lancaster had discovered a different set of offenders with fresh ginseng roots at about the same location the previous year.

"It was like deja vu," said Lancaster, who on both occasions replanted the valuable roots. "The plants survive if you put them back in the ground within a couple of hours, while the roots are still moist."

Because American ginseng is sold abroad, international trade laws require Missouri and other ginseng-producing states to keep track of their ginseng harvest. That requires regulations, such as a harvest season and checking requirements. Conservation agents enforce the regulations strictly.

In the past year there have been five arrests and four convictions for ginseng-related violations of the Wildlife Code of Missouri. Violations can lead to a $500 fine or six months in jail or both.

The legal ginseng harvest season is Sept. 1 through Dec. 31. Missouri exports about a ton of dried ginseng root annually to markets overseas, where it brings as much as $250 per pound.

If you think that price makes it easy to get rich digging ginseng, think again. It takes about 150 ginseng roots to produce a pound of dried root. But the potential for profit -- and overharvest -- is there, so the Missouri Department of Conservation (MDC) keeps tabs on the state's harvest.

Before crossing state lines, Missouri's harvested ginseng must be weighed by a conservation agent. Without this procedure, the state's commercial harvest would be illegal by federal law. Diggers don't need to register with MDC, but dealers do. To date, Missouri has 23 registered dealers.

Other laws prohibit digging ginseng on state or federal lands and protect landowners from trespass by ginseng "poachers." Digging ginseng root on private property without permission is against Missouri's trespass law.

Most Missouri ginseng comes from the wild. Cultivated root made up only 28 pounds of last year's record, 4,431-pound harvest. Wild ginseng brings a much higher price than cultivated roots. The older the root, the more valuable it is. Graded by size, shape and wrinkle, the root is widely believed to be a natural panacea.

"In the Orient, it's traditional to drink tea made from the root," said MDC botanist Tim Smith, who is responsible for keeping track of the harvest. The root is credited with everything from curing rheumatism to improving sexual potency, said Smith.

Smith is curious how much ginseng conservation agents will weigh in this year. Last year's unusually large harvest could indicate more Missourians are digging and alert MDC to a possible strain on the resource.

Allen Lockard, general manager of Wilcox Natural Products in Eolia, buys most of the state's ginseng harvest from diggers and is a major U.S. exporter of the root. He said he thinks the most likely explanation for last year's large harvest was favorable weather conditions and high demand abroad. "Demand is down, so there will be less supply this year," he said.

Besides the man-made rules for protecting ginseng, mother nature has her own way of caring for the plant, said Lockard. A ginseng root can lie dormant for years without stems or leaves. "Deer love ginseng tops," he said. "During the summer they eat the tops and then collectors can't find the plants."