Record numbers of Ohioans have taken to digging and selling ginseng

Columbus Dispatch

COLUMBUS

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources is considering new rules to regulate the digging and selling of ginseng as trade in the medicinal plant increases.

The Division of Wildlife has scheduled a public meeting for March 7 at the department’s central office in Columbus to allow diggers, dealers, buyers and others involved in the lucrative ginseng business to comment on possible changes.

The state review comes as record numbers of Ohioans have taken to digging and selling ginseng. American ginseng grown in Ohio and other states is exported to Asian markets, which control the fluctuating prices similar to commodities or stock markets.

Last year, 70 dealers were registered with the state to buy and sell ginseng, up from 49 in 2013. And 8,924 diggers reported harvesting ginseng, up from 4,617 in 2013, according to Division of Wildlife records.

Wild ginseng is found throughout the state, but the plant is especially prevalent in the Appalachian Ohio region.

Ohio ranks about sixth among 19 ginseng-growing states, after top producers, including North Carolina, Kentucky and West Virginia.

The Appalachian region of the country is the heart of the ginseng range, which stretches as far west as the Mississippi River, said Tanner Filyaw, a ginseng expert with Rural Action, a community-service organization in Athens County.

About 5,829 pounds were legally collected in Ohio last year, according to Division of Wildlife records. It could be more because dealers have until March 31 to certify their annual ginseng collection with the state.

The dried roots are prized for their medicinal benefits, said to be a cure-all for stress, cancer-related fatigue, erectile dysfunction, colitis, diabetes, senility and just about anything that ails the body.

Ginseng harvested in Ohio fetched up to $1,000 per pound in 2013 and up to $800 per pound last year, said Melissa Moser, ginseng permit coordinator with the Division of Wildlife.

Higher prices in recent years have spurred interest in ginseng harvesting in Ohio, as did last year’s debut of the reality-TV show “Appalachian Outlaws,” which chronicles the adventures of ginseng diggers and dealers in West Virginia.

“Since that show started, our volume of calls has gone way up from people interested in digging ginseng,” Moser said. “They realize now that there’s value in it. They think they can just go out and dig it and have money in their pocket.”

It is not that simple.

American ginseng is a protected plant species. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service regulates it through ginseng-management programs administered by Ohio and other ginseng-producing states.

Current state rules require dealers to register annually and to obtain a permit to buy and sell ginseng. They also must bring their yearly collection of ginseng to Division of Wildlife offices across the state to be weighed. Only then, after the ginseng is certified, is it ready to be legally exported.

The diggers who sell their ginseng to dealers are not required to obtain a permit. But they must complete state-issued forms that include their names and addresses, the county in which they dug the ginseng and the dates they dug it.

Sept. 1 through Dec. 31 is the designated harvest season; it is against the law to dig ginseng out of season. Digging ginseng is prohibited on state land or on private land without the written permission of the landowner.

Poaching is not uncommon, however, and violations of the law are up: 152 last year, compared with 46 in 2013, according to Division of Wildlife records.

Violations are first-degree misdemeanors punishable by a maximum of six months in jail. The most-common violations are digging ginseng without permission and digging out of season.

Ricky Campbell, who buys and sells ginseng from his Newton Ridge Gun Shop near Malta in Morgan County, plans to attend the March 7 meeting, scheduled for 10 a.m. at the Ohio Department of Natural Resources central office, 2045 Morse Road, to learn about the possible rule changes.

Under discussion is whether dealers should be charged a fee for their now-free annual permit (the only fee dealers currently pay is $3 per pound when their ginseng is state-certified) and whether diggers should be required to get a permit and pay a charge for it.

Campbell said he doesn’t support charging dealers for annual permits.