Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service,
State law requires those seeds to be planted within 50 feet of the producing plant. According to SA Snow, "It's been difficult for a ginseng dealer trying to comply with the ginseng regulations to complete with other dealers who are willing to buy ginseng all year.?
Ginseng dealers typically pay less than the market value of the roots when they buy it out of season, then as a result of the increased profit they make from the out of season ginseng, these same dealers can afford to pay more than their competitors once season opens.
On August 10, 2006, 16 search warrants were served across Kentucky by officers from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, U.S. Forest Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Criminal Investigation Division. In total, 437 pounds of ginseng with a value between $132,000 and $200,000 was seized which was unlawfully purchased or documented.The wild ginseng trade in Kentucky is a $5 to $8 million industry. Kentucky is the largest supplier of wild ginseng in the United States, averaging approximately 16 percent of the national harvest annually. The average wholesale value of wild ginseng to a root digger varies between $300 and $500 per pound.
The Kentucky Department of Agriculture implements the ginseng management program in Kentucky, which is required by federal regulations in order for Kentucky's ginseng to be eligible for export from the United States. A high percentage of Kentucky's ginseng is exported to Southeast Asia where it is used in the medicinal trade.
Jim Gale, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Southeast Region, reported that the Kentucky investigation was part of a regional focus on the illegal and lucrative ginseng trade, and that similar investigations were also conducted in North Carolina and Georgia during the past three years. Gale stated these investigations were necessary to ensure that both the historical traditional aspect and the important economic benefits to the rural communities which benefit from the ginseng trade can continue in the South.
Additional federal prosecutions as a result of this investigation are pending across Kentucky.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is the principal federal agency responsible for conserving, protecting and enhancing fish, wildlife and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. The Service manages the 95-million-acre National Wildlife Refuge System, which encompasses 547 national wildlife refuges, thousands of small wetlands and other special management areas. It also operates 69 national fish hatcheries, 63 Fish and Wildlife Management offices and 81 ecological services field stations. The agency enforces federal wildlife laws, administers the Endangered Species Act, manages migratory bird populations, restores nationally significant fisheries, conserves and restores wildlife habitat such as wetlands, and helps foreign governments with their conservation efforts. It also oversees the Federal Assistance program, which distributes hundreds of millions of dollars in excise taxes on fishing and hunting equipment to State fish and wildlife agencies.
