Wild American ginseng is being dug out of Great Smoky Mountains National Park by the hundreds. Rangers recently stopped two people carrying poached roots: one had 167, and the other had 521 roots that weighed 8 pounds in total. The National Park Service (NPS) and Congress need to act now to protect this rare plant before it disappears from the park.

Ginseng grows slowly. A single plant needs 7 to 10 years before it can make seeds, and some live for more than 75 years. When a poacher pulls one root, decades of growth vanish in seconds. Rangers saved many of the undamaged roots so park staff can replant them, but park data shows only about one in three replanted roots survives.

The harm goes beyond one plant. Poaching disturbs fragile forest floors, takes away food that wildlife relies on, and shrinks the genetic diversity that helps ginseng survive. Wild roots are often taken to be sold for traditional medicine, which keeps the illegal trade profitable.

Right now, the maximum penalty is a $5,000 fine and six months in jail. For poachers chasing a valuable harvest, that may not be enough to stop them.

The NPS should fund more ranger patrols in the park's ginseng habitat and expand its replanting and recovery work. Congress should raise penalties for poaching protected plants on public land. And the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), which oversees ginseng exports, should tighten tracking so stolen roots can't be sold.

Ginseng has grown in these Appalachian mountains for generations. It belongs to the forest and to everyone who visits it, not to the people who steal it.

Sign the petition to protect wild ginseng in the Smokies before poachers strip it from the park for good.