“We ain't never stolen a plant”: Livelihoods, property, and illegal ginseng harvesting in the Appalachian forest commons

In the southern Appalachian Mountains, wild American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) has been harvested for commercial sale for nearly 250 years. Ginseng is vulnerable to overexploitation but can be harvested according to regulations implemented to prevent a tragedy of the commons. Despite regulations, much ginseng is harvested illegally. Conservationists, supported by American property law, tend to believe illegal ginseng harvesters are thieves interested in quickly obtaining cash. This article argues instead that many illegal ginseng harvesters believe one cannot “steal” a wild plant. Many Appalachian forest users believe the owner of a ginseng root is the person who harvests it and not the landowner. Efforts to protect ginseng often rely on excluding harvesters from accessing lands historically considered to belong to the commons, which can also exclude them from an important strategy for earning income in a region where formal living‐wage jobs are scarce. This article adds complexity to understandings of the rural poor who make a living at the edges of the global capitalist system and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of poor rural Appalachians by exploring the reasons for ginseng harvesting, a behavior that otherwise might appear consistent with negative stereotypes of Appalachian culture.