National Geographic Explorer
Carlstrom_Rick (Carlstrom_Rick%P-AME-HQ.CCBRIDGE.SEAA.mrouter@seaa.navsea.navy.mil)
25 Mar 96 12:45:00 EST
I watched National Geographic Explorer last night (Virginia, USA).
They did a segment on the illegal collection and trade in VFT. It was
a very good segment. The two poachers stated on a good day they could
make $200.00 @ $0.30 per plant. That turns out to be 667 plants. WOW
what a rape of the land. It is my understanding that the fine for
wild collection of VFT is $100 PER PLANT. It would seem that just a
single bust would put one of these creeps out of bussiness. The
poachers defended their illegal activities by saying that they leave
the seeds behind, therefore ensuring a healthy population.
Anyway the segment also showed vast stands of S. flava that they
did not even mention.
Rick