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Relationships between harvest of American ginseng and hardwood timber production

Informally Refereed

Abstract

The goal of this research was to quantify the relationship between American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) and timber inventory and harvest. This was done through compilation and analysis of county-level data from public datasets: ginseng harvest data from U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, US Forest Service (USFS) forest inventory and analysis (FIA) data, and roundwood production data from the USFS Timber Products Output (TPO) program. Data for the 18-state region from 2000 to 2007 were aggregated to the county level. Ginseng harvest was correlated with hardwood growing stock and hardwood forest area. No evidence of a relationship between timber harvest levels and ginseng harvest was observed. There is also no indication that ginseng harvest is higher in areas with more abundant public forestland. For the counties recording a ginseng harvest during the period, ginseng harvest was valued at $25 million, while timber harvest value was estimated to be $1 billion.

Parent Publication

Citation

Prisley, Stephen P.; Chamberlain, James; McGuffin, Michael. 2012. Relationships between harvest of American ginseng and hardwood timber production. In: McWilliams, Will; Roesch, Francis A. eds. 2012. Monitoring Across Borders: 2010 Joint Meeting of the Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) Symposium and the Southern Mensurationists. e-Gen. Tech. Rep. SRS-157. Asheville, NC: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Southern Research Station. 95-102.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/40978