NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Thursday, February 5, 2015

INCIDENTS

Cumberland Gap NHP

Rangers Successfully Prosecute Ten For Ginseng Poaching

During the latter half of 2014, Cumberland Gap rangers successfully interdicted and prosecuted ten people for poaching ginseng in the park. The prosecutions resulted in fines totaling $2,300 and $12,885 in restitution to the park.

This success came through focused patrols and saturation of the known areas during peak hours. Rangers also reached out to the public and park neighbors through social media and trailhead bulletin boards with a “wanted poster” depicting an image of a typical poacher and how to contact rangers with the information.

The following are the case synopses:

June 17 - Rangers received a report of a man yelling in the Fern Lake area. D.H. was picked up by fisherman and brought to the boathouse. Rangers contacted D.H., who admitted to “root hunting” in the park and was found in possession of four ginseng roots. He pled guilty and was fined $150 and $60 in restitution to the park. Mike Ausmus was case agent.

July 29 - Rangers contacted G.B. while riding a bicycle on Highway 988. He was found in possession of 28 ginseng roots. He pled guilty and paid a fine of $250. Mike Ausmus was case agent.

August 23 - K.M. and T.R. were observed walking into the park's “Muddy Gut” area in the morning hours. They told rangers they were not digging ginseng. Rangers organized an operation to interdict them later in the afternoon. A third individual, B.M., was found in the park with approximately 185 ginseng roots and arrested by rangers. He said that he was with two other people that he separated from earlier in the morning. Rangers saw a vehicle travel into the area and then leave at a high rate of speed. They stopped it and again contacted T.R. and K.M., who were found to be in possession of 218 and 162 ginseng roots respectively. They admitted to collecting the ginseng within the park. T.R. pled guilty and was sentenced to two weeks in jail and $3,000 in restitution to the park; B.M. also pled guilty and was sentenced to a $250 fine and $2,685 in restitution. K.M. pled guilty and was sentenced to a $400 fine and $3,240 in restitution. Brad Cope was case agent.

September 1 - Rangers conducted a checkpoint operation at the Tennessee/Virginia state line in conjunction with the NHTSA Drunk Driving task force, with an identified secondary objective of interdicting unlawful export of ginseng through the park. September 1st was the first day of legal ginseng harvesting in Tennessee, Virginia and Kentucky in areas outside the park. During the checkpoint, rangers contacted W.C., who was found with 162 ginseng roots in his possession. W.C. pled guilty to possession of ginseng in the park and was fined $250. Aaron Scott was case agent.

September 17 - J.W. was observed being picked up coming out of the park's “Muddy Gut” area. Rangers stopped the vehicle and found that J.W. was in possession of approximately 77 roots. He pled guilty and was sentenced to a $250 fine and $1,155 in restitution to the park. Greg Johnston was case agent.

September 20 - Rangers found a vehicle parked at the Chadwell Gap trailhead with a metal detector and evidence of ginseng harvesting inside. Rangers later saw M.W. walking down the trail with a backpack toward his vehicle. When contacted, he had ditched his pack. He admitted to ginseng poaching and showed where his stashed his pack, which contained 161 ginseng roots. He was arrested and later pled guilty, with a fine of $250 with $2415 in restitution. Greg Johnston was case agent.

October 27 - Rangers discovered a truck parked at the Tackett Creek area of the park with an antler in the back and covert camera footage of two men walking from the truck into the interior of the park. Rangers later contacted De.W. and Do.W. as they returned to their truck and discovered 11 ginseng roots. Both pled guilty. They were each fined $250 and required to pay $165 each in restitution. Shane Sturgill was case agent.

November 20 - A Kentucky man was stopped for a traffic violation on US Route 25E in the park. During the contact, rangers discovered a zip lock bag with 63 ginseng roots in it. FTEP Trainee John Sheets and FTR Aaron Scott are case agents. Case adjudication is pending.

Cumberland Gap resource management staff played an important role with their continued efforts to identify and mark ginseng in the park. They spent hours aging, inventorying, marking and replanting seized ginseng. In several cases above, the seized ginseng was found to be marked as park ginseng, aiding in the prosecution of the cases. Park interpretation staff was also instrumental in utilizing the park's social media accounts to spread the word to park visitors and neighbors to report suspicious activity.

[Greg Johnston, Supervisory Park Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's webpage editions of InsideNPS (available to NPS employees only) and the Morning Report (available to all readers):

Padre Island NS - On January 28th, members of the public were invited to watch the release of 221 green sea turtles that had been found cold stunned and successfully rehabilitated. About a thousand attended the release and cheered as the turtles returned to the sea.

Saguaro NP - Saguaro National Park participated in the county-wide annual Beat Back Buffelgrass Day that took place on January 24th in and around Tucson.

Denver Service Center - Two representatives from the Denver Service Center attended a Peace Corps-sponsored workshop on adaptation to climate change in Mexico this past fall.

NPS Alumni - Harry Willcox Pfanz, 93, Civil War author and former chief historian for the National Park Service, died of natural causes at his home in Gaithersburg, Maryland, on January 27th.

To see the full text of these stories, readers should go to one or the other of the following sites:

NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index

Non-NPS employees - HYPERLINK "http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/" http://www.nps.gov/morningreport/

The Morning Report is produced by the Office of Communications with the support of the Office of the Associate Director for Information Resources. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@contractor.nps.gov).

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