The May 15 Rachel Carson Forum on the Future of the Environment will feature a presentation by Eric Burkhart, Instructor and Program Director with Penn State’s Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center, on Pennsylvania’s Ginseng Industry.

The Forum will start at noon in the Second Floor Training Room, Rachel Carson Building in Harrisburg.

American ginseng is a native Pennsylvania forest plant whose root is collected for the international medicinal plant trade. As the prices paid for wild ginseng continue to soar, this plant is increasingly recognized at both state and federal levels as a species of particular conservation concern.

However, not much is known about the ginseng collector, or “sanger,” community in Pennsylvania, or about the impact of recent state and federal government management steps intended to encourage sustainable behaviors within this industry.

In his talk, Burkhart will share results from his research on the ginseng community and industry in Pennsylvania and the impact of management actions on these groups and outlook for American ginseng.

Burkhart will discuss: stakeholder attitudes regarding management efforts, industry behaviors which influence management program accuracy and efficacy, stakeholder and study suggestions for improving management and conservation of this culturally and economically important forest resource.

The Rachel Carson Forum on Future of the Environment is a monthly mid-day speakers series that seeks to stimulate discussion on important environmental and sustainable development issues.

The Department of Environmental Protection, Office of Policy, the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources, Office of Conservation Science, and the Pennsylvania Consortium for Interdisciplinary Environmental Policy are organizing this series.

4/11/2008