Jesuit sees hope cropping up for struggling Appalachia - ginseng is a crop that could revitalize Appalachia

National Catholic Reporter, Jan 22, 1999 by Beth Dotson

To get a sense of the images some people carry in their heads about Appalachia, just take a look at the movie "Coal Miner's Daughter": environmental catastrophe, grinding poverty, bleak lives that trigger despair or the yearning to escape.

But when Jesuit Fr. Al Fritsch looks out his window in rural Kentucky, he sees something else. In the old-growth forests that still thrive in Appalachia, Fritsch sees incredible wealth -- and what's more important, hope.

Managed creatively and responsibly, these forests could become the cornerstone of a sustainable way of life for the region, according to this unconventional Jesuit.

Perhaps his most intriguing case in point involves ginseng.

The ginseng root, which thrives in Appalachia's old-growth forests, is popular these days in several wildly disparate markets. Usually processed into pills or powders, it is used by athletes as a performance enhancer, by the lovelorn as an aphrodisiac and by New Agers attracted by its mystique as an ancient Asian remedy and meditation aide.

Appalachia is already the center of a small but thriving ginseng business, and Fritsch thinks expansion in responsible fashion could provide an economic boon to the region -- and help conserve its forests to boot by providing alternatives to logging and mining.

While this kind of thinking could come from either a Harvard MBA or a Sierra Club specialist, it hasn't. Instead Fritsch is leading the effort. And while environmental concern and economic progress are important to him, it's not the core of what he's about. Fritsch believes that in protecting tile earth and serving people, he's living out his priestly vows to carry the gospel to the world.

Think of him, therefore, as a sort of eco-minister.

He's certainly not your typical eco-activist. He doesn't picket the ranger station or chain himself to trees. Instead, he founded Appalachia Science in the Public Interest, a nonprofit group he started in 1977 after working with the Center for Science in the Public Interest in Washington. The Appalachian group's purpose is to help people find ways to live as responsible stewards of the earth.

Because of its location in the economically impoverished Appalachian region, the group concentrates on making science and technology responsive to the needs of low-income people. That translates into finding sustainable life-styles and work.

Oldest, most varied forest

While the group's activity reaches into a variety of areas, one major concern for the past several years has been maintaining the health of the mixed mesophytic forest in Appalachia, the oldest and most varied temperate hardwood forest in the world. The forest is an economic asset to Kentucky because it provides timber for logging and an attraction for tourists.

Fritsch hopes to play up the tourism angle, arguing that it's a more responsible way to profit from Appalachia's natural resources. "We really believe that using a forest for recreation is far better than using it to cut out timber," Fritsch said.

Not just any kind of recreation will do, however. In 1990, the group took on the cause of regulating the use of off-road vehicles in the forest. These can cause irreversible damage to the forest ecosystem.

"No one [in Kentucky] was talking about the use of off-road vehicles prior to our entry into this in 1990," Fritsch said. So the group did talk about it, with the public and with decision-makers. It took seven years of work, but now the U.S. Forest Service has heavily restricted the use of off-road vehicles in Kentucky's forests.

"We are making ethical distinctions. A person can't just come into the forest and do any kind of recreation they want," Fritsch said.

Fritsch's most unconventional plan for the forest, however, is to davelop the environmental and economic benefits of ginseng. With its natural canopy of oak, hickory, maple and poplar trees, the forest encourages the plant to grow naturally and has made Kentucky the primary exporter of wild ginseng root since the ! 700s.

Ancient remedy

Ginseng is traditionally associated with China, where it was cultivated for its alleged healing properties as early as 400 B.C. Its name translates to "man root," so named for its person-like shape.

Tradition has it that the root promotes longevity and stamina, cures depression, relieves stress, improves concentration and is useful against such ailments as headaches, insomnia, indigestion and even acne. It also supposedly boosts the male sex drive, making it a sort of proto-Viagra.

While Western medical authorities are quick to point out that most of these claims are undocumented, the ginseng root does apparently produce a chemical called ginsenoside that can boost absorption of protein, fat and sugar. A few studies have shown a positive effect from ginsenoside on slowing down aging in cells.

Whatever the case, ginseng is in demand and can mean big bucks for harvesters. China, Korea, the United States and Canada are the main exporters of the root, though the Asian version is not natural. Due to deforestation, China does not have its own natural ginseng. Much of the U.S. production comes from the Appalachian regions of Kentucky.