In the southern Appalachian Mountains, wild American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) has been harvested for commercial sale for nearly 250 years. Ginseng is vulnerable to overexploitation but can be harvested according to regulations implemented to prevent a tragedy of the commons. Despite regulations, much ginseng is harvested illegally. Conservationists, supported by American property law, tend to believe illegal ginseng harvesters are thieves interested in quickly obtaining cash. This article argues instead that many illegal ginseng harvesters believe one cannot “steal” a wild plant. Many Appalachian forest users believe the owner of a ginseng root is the person who harvests it and not the landowner. Efforts to protect ginseng often rely on excluding harvesters from accessing lands historically considered to belong to the commons, which can also exclude them from an important strategy for earning income in a region where formal living-wage jobs are scarce. This article adds complexity to understandings of the rural poor who make a living at the edges of the global capitalist system and contributes to a more nuanced understanding of poor rural Appalachians by exploring the reasons for ginseng harvesting, a behavior that otherwise might appear consistent with negative stereotypes of Appalachian culture.

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“我们从来没有偷过植物”：阿巴拉契亚森林公地的生计、财产和非法人参采伐

在阿巴拉契亚山脉南部，野生西洋参（Panax quinquefolius) 已收获用于商业销售近 250 年。人参很容易受到过度开发的影响，但可以根据为防止公地悲剧而实施的法规进行收获。尽管有规定，许多人参是非法采伐的。受美国财产法支持的环保主义者倾向于认为非法人参收割机是对快速获取现金感兴趣的小偷。这篇文章认为，许多非法人参收割者认为不能“偷走”野生植物。许多阿巴拉契亚森林使用者认为人参根的所有者是收获它的人，而不是土地所有者。保护人参的努力往往依赖于禁止收割者进入历史上被认为属于公地的土地，这也可能将他们排除在一个缺乏正式生活工资工作的地区赚取收入的重要战略之外。本文增加了对在全球资本主义体系边缘谋生的农村穷人的理解的复杂性，并通过探讨人参收获的原因，有助于更细致地了解贫困的农村阿巴拉契亚人，否则这种行为可能看起来与负面一致阿巴拉契亚文化的刻板印象。