525 ILCS 20/ Ginseng Harvesting Act.

(525 ILCS 20/0.01) (from Ch. 61, par. 500)

Sec. 0.01. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Ginseng Harvesting Act.

(Source: P.A. 86-1324.)

(525 ILCS 20/1) (from Ch. 61, par. 501)

Sec. 1. Definitions. As used in this Act, unless the context otherwise requires:

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/1a) (from Ch. 61, par. 502)

Sec. 1a. "Cultivated ginseng" means ginseng growing in tilled beds under shade of artificial structures or under natural shade.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/1b) (from Ch. 61, par. 503)

Sec. 1b. "Department" means the Department of Natural Resources.

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)

(525 ILCS 20/1c) (from Ch. 61, par. 504)

Sec. 1c. "Director" means the Director of Natural Resources.

(Source: P.A. 89-445, eff. 2-7-96.)

(525 ILCS 20/1d) (from Ch. 61, par. 505)

Sec. 1d. "Ginseng" means the root of American ginseng (Panax quinquefolium).

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/1e) (from Ch. 61, par. 506)

Sec. 1e. "Wild ginseng" means ginseng in, or collected from, its native habitat, notwithstanding whether the ginseng occurs naturally from that habitat or was introduced or increased in abundance by sowing ginseng seed or by transplanting ginseng plants from other areas.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/2) (from Ch. 61, par. 507)

Sec. 2. Licenses. The following licensing provisions shall be applied by the Department:

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/2a) (from Ch. 61, par. 508)

Sec. 2a. Harvest License. No person may cut, root up, gather or harvest wild ginseng unless the person has a harvest license issued by the Department. The fee for a harvest license is $7 and is valid from April 1 to March 31. A harvest license is valid during the established harvest season for wild ginseng for the year during which it is issued. The Department shall establish by administrative rule the procedure for issuing licenses and regulations on the methods used to harvest. Harvested wild ginseng may be sold only to dealers licensed by the State of Illinois. All wild ginseng must be sold by harvesters no later than March 1 of the year following harvest.

(Source: P.A. 85-152.)

(525 ILCS 20/2b) (from Ch. 61, par. 509)

Sec. 2b. Grower's License. Any person engaged in the propagation and harvesting of cultivated ginseng shall secure a registered grower's license from the Department annually for a fee of $25.00. A grower's license shall authorize the harvest of cultivated ginseng at any time. A grower's license is valid from April 1 through March 31. A grower shall maintain records as to the location of all cultivated ginseng fields, areas or facilities, quantity of ginseng produced and any other information required by the Department by administrative rule and shall keep records and make reports to the Department as required by administrative rule. The Department shall establish by administrative rule procedures of issuing licenses, keeping records and reports, reporting transactions and certifying the amounts, quantities and origin of the cultivated ginseng. The Department shall supply, free of additional charges proper forms to growers for all required data and information.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/2c) (from Ch. 61, par. 510)

Sec. 2c. Dealer License. No person shall be engaged in the business of buying wild or cultivated ginseng from harvesters, growers or other dealers for resale to exporters or to other dealers unless the person has a license issued by the Department to be a dealer of ginseng. The fee for a dealer's license is $50.00 for Illinois residents and $100.00 for nonresidents and is valid from April 1 through March 31. A dealer shall maintain records, open to duly authorized agents of the Department, of the quantity of material purchased and sold, the county where purchased ginseng was harvested, and other information required by the Department by administrative rule, and shall make reports to the Department as required. The Department shall establish by administrative rule procedures for issuing licenses, keeping records, reporting transactions, and certifying the origin of ginseng. The Department shall supply free of additional charge, proper forms to dealers for all required data and information. A dealer may purchase roots of wild ginseng harvested in Illinois only during the period from two weeks after the opening of the harvest season for wild ginseng to the following March 1, or may purchase at any time wild or cultivated ginseng harvested in another state and certified for export by that state.

(Source: P.A. 84-1065.)

(525 ILCS 20/2d) (from Ch. 61, par. 511)

Sec. 2d. Purchase with Knowledge. No dealer may purchase wild ginseng or other protected plants if the person knows it was cut, dug, rooted up or gathered at some time other than the harvest season established pursuant to this Act. No dealer may purchase ginseng if the dealer knows that the vendor does not have a valid license or that the vendor has violated this Act or a rule promulgated pursuant to this Act.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/2e) (from Ch. 61, par. 512)

Sec. 2e. Certification. The Department must certify the origin and quantity of all ginseng harvested in the State of Illinois. Certifications will only be made within the boundaries of the State and only at the established offices of resident licensed dealers, registered licensed growers or at offices designated by the Department. The Department shall establish by administrative rule procedures for certification to authenticate and verify the origin, legal taking or purchasing, weight of shipment, whether wild or cultivated and persons growing or dealing in ginseng and other information as required to attain compliance with Federal mandates of the Office of Scientific Authority of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. All wild ginseng must be certified and sealed by April 1 of the year following harvest.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/2f) (from Ch. 61, par. 513)

Sec. 2f. Exception. Sections 2a and 3 do not apply to a person who roots up or destroys wild ginseng growing on the person's own land if the plants are not sold, bartered, traded or given away.

(Source: P.A. 84-1065.)

(525 ILCS 20/2g) (from Ch. 61, par. 514)

Sec. 2g. All fees, fines, and other income of whatsoever kind or nature derived from this Act shall be deposited in the Wildlife and Fish Fund in the State treasury.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/3) (from Ch. 61, par. 515)

Sec. 3. Harvest Season. The Department shall establish by administrative rule the legal season for cutting, digging up, rooting up or gathering wild ginseng. The harvest season for wild ginseng must be within the time period of August 1 to November 1 of each calendar year and may be closed in all or part of the State only by action of the Illinois General Assembly.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/4) (from Ch. 61, par. 516)

Sec. 4. Trespass to Harvest Ginseng. No person shall, without permission of the owner, enter the forest, field, yard, building, garden or other enclosure of another and willfully break down, dig, destroy, take or carry away any ginseng.

(Source: P.A. 83-680.)

(525 ILCS 20/5) (from Ch. 61, par. 517)

Sec. 5. Penalties. Any person who knowingly violates any provision of this Act or rules promulgated under the authority of this Act is, for each offense, guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

Ginseng possessed, harvested, cut, rooted up, gathered, propagated, sold, purchased, traded, or given away in violation of the provisions of this Act is contraband. Contraband ginseng is subject to seizure and confiscation and shall be disposed of as directed by the Department.

(Source: P.A. 92-385, eff. 8-16-01.)

(525 ILCS 20/6)

Sec. 6. Additional license revocation and denial provisions.

(a) If a license has been issued to any person under this Act and that person is found guilty of any misrepresentation in obtaining that license or a violation of any of the provisions of this Act or its rules or a violation of the United States Code that involves the possession, use, sale, transportation, or harvesting of ginseng when any part of the United States Code violation occurred in Illinois, the license may be revoked by the Department. The Department may also refuse to issue any license to that person and may suspend that person from engaging in any activity requiring the license for a period of time not to exceed 5 years following the revocation.

(b) If a person who has not been issued a license under this Act is found guilty of a violation of any of the provisions of this Act or its rules or a violation of the United States Code that involves the possession, use, sale, transportation, or harvesting of ginseng when any part of the United States Code violation occurred in Illinois, the Department may refuse to issue any license to that person and may suspend that person from engaging in any activity requiring the license for a period of time not to exceed 5 years.

(c) The Department's license revocation procedures must be established by administrative rule.

(d) Any person who violates any of the provisions of this Act or its rules during any period when his or her license is revoked or denied by virtue of this Section, or during the time he or she is suspended under subsection (b), is guilty of a Class A misdemeanor.

(e) A person whose license to engage in any activity regulated under this Act has been suspended or revoked may not, during the period of the suspension or revocation or until obtaining the proper license, (i) be in the company of any person engaging in the activity covered by the license or (ii) serve as a guide or facilitator for a person who is engaged or prepared to engage in the activity covered by the license.

(Source: P.A. 102-837, eff. 5-13-22.)