By Alison Crawford, CBC News Ottawa, July 26, 2017
Conservation officers in Ontario and Quebec are using surveillance and other techniques to try to outsmart thieves bent on digging up Canada's most valuable endangered plant.
Poaching poses the greatest threat to wild American ginseng, which can sell for anywhere from several hundred to several thousand dollars per root depending on its shape and size. A single root the size of an adult male's finger can fetch up to $1,000.
On the front lines of the preservation effort is an Ottawa-area botanist and senior wildlife enforcement officer for Environment Canada.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/wild-ginseng-poaching-endangered-plants-1.4212920