> This isn't weird! I thought this was common in N.C.?
Unfortunately it is. SE North Carolina (where most of the VFTs
grow) is economically depressed; it is one of the poorest areas
in the state. I read a newspaper article about VFT poachers. They
can dig up hundreds of plants every night if memory serves me
correctly. For an otherwise unemployed person, this translates
into big bucks (about 10 cents per plant?). In addition, law
enforcement agents have thousands of acres of swampland to patrol
which makes catching poachers difficult. I have an idea most are
caught 'after the fact', i.e. they're caught with a pickup full
of VFTs and no documentation for them.
Phil
Durham, North Carolina