At 02:50 PM 7/26/2004 -0400, you wrote: >There's a person on eBay called Chase's Plants & Prints from McKee, Kentucky >that is apparently stripping the woods around them of Cypripedium acaule. >They are offering them them in lots of up to 300 plants with fifteen lots >available. That's 4,500 plants! They also appear to be stripping these >woods of live moss also. This area is in southeastern KY about 100 miles >from where I live. I think that this should almost be a criminal action as >probably 90+% of them will die within the first year. Is there anything >that can be done about such a thing? Their username says it all: >kyatvrider (Kentucky All Terrain Vehicle Rider). This was on their eBay >Store info: "We sell moss for groundcover, pink lady slippers, southeastern >gardens, ferns, blueberries, and dog woods as well as beautiful Animal Art >Prints, My son whom is 6 helps me gather our plants and pick out the prints >we sell." An example of their auctions are: > >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42218&item=2383101441 > >http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=4315102425 > >David Sizemore >Kingsport, TN (Zone 6a)
I guess it depends on what woods are being "stripped". If it's private property with the owner's permission or their own property, then the removal of plants is perfectly legal in most states. If it's on public lands of any kind (National Forest, National Park, State Forest, State Park, etc. etc.), then there are usually laws that protect orchids and other plants that are rare, threatened, endangered, or of special concern due to possible commercial exploitation. Even then, there may be mitigating circumstances, such as the construction or widening of a road where the government agencies really couldn't care less about what they're bulldozing over...in these cases, the taking of plants, while technically illegal, may be morally justifiable. ---Prem www.premdesign.com
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