Illinois Compiled Statutes
Chapter 525 - CONSERVATION
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.)