Has anyone here harvested wild ginseng?

[theHandpuppet]

My mother's Appalachian Ohio land is soon to be bought and torn to pieces by the state, which is building a hwy through previously virgin forest full of deer, wild turkeys by the score, birds of all kinds, a stream and spring-fed bass pond. Since her house and land will be razed, she has already sold the rights to some of the timber but I thought we should also harvest the wild ginseng which covers several of the forested hillsides. We have never done this before (my family believed the land should be allowed to exist in its natural state) so I could use some advice. At this point I can't see letting it all go to waste.

Anyone here have experience harvesting wild ginseng? What kind of licenses do you have to get and how hard is it to find a dealer?

Also, on her property there are some rather unique plants including a small, wild violet (?) which is white with peppermint pink stripes, which I understand is very rare. I hate to see this small outcropping destroyed by bulldozers, but know of no society which might come in and at least rescue/transplant these to another, safer spot.

Ah, civilization. Don't you just love it?

[idiosyncratic]

1. This was in the news just this week

Wild American Ginseng sells for lots of money.

I did a Google Search here.

Since it is in danger of being wiped out by the construction (and the deer elsewhere), I think harvesting it would be a good, profitable idea.

I don't know about licenses or markets . . . Google can probably help with that too . . . :)

[KCS72000]

2. Ginsing will survive transplanting

If at all possible save the roots (pack in soil) and replant. we lost some but most survived.
We still have one plant that must be 25 years old now.