New Jersey, no state law?

[ghunter]

I looked thru the state laws and New Jersey doesn't have any. So am I safe to assume that I don't need to get my ginseng certified and I can dig it anytime of year?

[Brad]

Sorry Ghunter...its really just the opposite.  Welcome to the site by the way.

Here is the list from the US Fish & Wildlife Service which shows which states are authorized to harvest and export wild ginseng.  Notice New Jersey isn't on the list.  That would make it a federal crime to try and export wild ginseng from the state.  Also note a number of states only allow export of 'artificially propagated' ginseng as well.

http://www.fws.gov/international/pdf/table-list-of-states-and-tribes-with-approved-export-programs-for-furbearers-alligators-and-ginseng.pdf

[ghunter]

thanks for the info Brad, I actually saw that chart in my search but I mistakenly took the X in the box as no and the blank boxes as yes, lol.

You say its a federal crime to export out of the state, but can you sell inside the state or no sales at all just personal use?

The reason I was asking was I accidently walked into a huge ginseng patch the other day on a walk. I saw the show Filthy Riches season 1 last year and they had the ginseng crew on there. I was thinking about trying to find some in next years ginseng season because I walk in the woods a lot. But I decided against it because NJ is terrible with ticks. If you stay on the wide paths you are fine but walk 10 ft into the overgrown parts and you will have a couple ticks on you. So I sort of forgot about ginseng and what to look out for. But I just happened to rewatch the season again and when I went walking in the woods where I have dozens of times and I went off the main path a little bit and stumbled onto a ginseng plant that had 3 berries on it. And I was pretty happy with my find but then I started to notice berries everywhere and looked around and it was just a sea of ginseng. It is around 1/3 of a football field of ginseng plants about 8 inches apart from each other, you can't walk thru the patch without stepping on a plant. I am not sure on the age of the plants but most weren't that big, but I don't know if that is because winter just ended.

[Brad]

8" apart makes me think they might have been planted there actually.  You might have found someone's patch.

But, I did try to find mention of ginseng in the New Jersey laws to no avail.  The best I can tell they just do not consider it something that requires regulating within the state and certainly not for export.  However, it is still a CITES II listed protected plant, so you should only consider harvesting if it is not protected in your state.  In other words, you need to make phone calls and spend a lot more time searching than I did to find where ginseng either is protected or is not protected within the state of New Jersey.  You might start with your local wildlife folks, and from there go to the agriculture people.  This varies by state who controls the ginseng program.  In your case, there isn't even a program so finding out where ginseng fits in might be a little more difficult.

Another think that doesn't make sense is that you are saying you found plants with berries in the spring?  That's not right.  The berries ripen in the fall and seldom last to the first hard freeze.  The whole tops die back.  So finding plants this early with berries make me think this might not be ginseng you are looking at.  Did you take any pictures?