Ohio Administrative Code › Title 1501:31 - Division of Wildlife › Chapter 1501:31-40 - Ohio Ginseng Management Program › Section 1501:31-40-01 - Ginseng harvest season, reseeding, collection records

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) It shall be unlawful to dig, harvest,
			 cut, root up, gather, or otherwise collect wild ginseng from its natural
			 habitat except during the season of September first through December
			 thirty-first of each year without written authorization from the chief of the
			 division of wildlife.
(B) It shall
			 be unlawful to harvest wild ginseng plants that have not reached maturity, or
			 that have unripened berries, or that have less than three-leaf stems
			 (prongs).
(C) It shall be unlawful
			 for any person harvesting wild ginseng to fail to immediately replant the seeds
			 at the place where the plants were collected, provided such seeds are
			 present.
(D) It shall be unlawful
			 to harvest wild or cultivated ginseng from private or public property without
			 first obtaining written permission from the landowner or his agent. A person
			 who obtains the written permission required under this rule shall carry it with
			 the person at all times during which the person is engaged in harvesting wild
			 or cultivated ginseng and shall present it upon the request of a wildlife
			 officer, natural resources officer, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, police
			 officer, other law enforcement officer, or the owner of the lands on which the
			 person is harvesting wild or cultivated ginseng, or the owner's authorized
			 agent.
(E) It shall be unlawful for
			 any person collecting ginseng to fail to keep accurate daily records showing
			 the number of pounds and ounces of ginseng, both green and/or dry weight, or
			 the number of roots, collected in each Ohio county by date of
			 collection.
(F) It shall be
			 unlawful to fail to record the information required in paragraph (E) of this
			 rule before midnight on the date of harvest of ginseng.
(G) It shall be unlawful to fail to keep the
			 records required by paragraph (E) of this rule in the same physical location
			 where the harvested ginseng is kept, stored or transported until such time that
			 the harvested ginseng is sold or consumed.
(H) It shall be unlawful to fail to maintain
			 the records required by paragraph (E) of this rule for a period of two years
			 after the ginseng is sold or consumed.
(I)
								The records required by
			 this rule shall be available for inspection at all reasonable times upon the
			 request of a wildlife officer, constable, sheriff, deputy sheriff, police
			 officer or other law enforcement officers unless the owner or person in charge
			 objects. If the owner or person in charge refuses to permit the inspection,
			 upon filing an affidavit in accordance with law with a court having
			 jurisdiction and upon receiving a warrant, an officer authorized to enforce
			 this rule may proceed with the inspection.
(J) It shall be unlawful for any person
			 selling wild ginseng to fail to provide the information required by paragraph
			 (E) of this rule and rule
			 1501:31-40-02
			 of the Administrative Code to buyers or dealers with whom the collector does
			 business.
(K) It shall be unlawful
			 for all collectors or sellers under whose direction the root was collected to
			 fail to sign a statement certifying that the ginseng roots being sold by him or
			 her, have been collected or cultivated in Ohio by him or her or at his or her
			 direction in accordance and in compliance with all state and federal laws
			 governing such collection or cultivation.
(L) It shall be unlawful for any person to
			 buy, or otherwise acquire, sell, transport, or possess green wild ginseng
			 collected from property other than their own from April first through August
			 thirty-first of each year without written authorization from the chief of the
			 division of wildlife. Wild ginseng collected from one's own property from April
			 first through August thirty-first of each year must be for personal use only
			 and must not be entered into commerce, or sold, transported, or given to
			 another person.