Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 10, 1994                   TAG: 9404100124
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: CATHRYN McCUE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

RAMP RUSTLERS CAN'T HARVEST PARKWAY PLANTS

He ate raw ramps.

Although mild in taste, these wild leeks that grow in Appalachia's high country work a curious change in a person's body chemistry, exuding a pungent, nose-wrinkling odor.

"If you eat 'em raw, gee whiz, they're with you for a week," Morefield said. Eating ramps would almost guarantee he'd be sent home from school.

Morefield's academic career didn't suffer, however - he grew up to be district ranger for the Blue Ridge Parkway, where he occasionally runs across clumps of ramps. He still enjoys eating them, battered and fried to cut down on their unpleasant aftereffect.

But, like everyone else, he'll have to start looking elsewhere for his supply.

Earlier this week, park officials announced that digging ramps along the scenic highway would be prohibited. Violators are subject to a maximum fine of $500 and up to six months in the slammer.

All for the love of ramps.

"They're not an endangered species, but they could be if we allowed this to go on," said Arthur Frederick, assistant chief ranger for the parkway.

Harvesting ramps entails digging up the bulb, like a garlic or onion, which means killing the plant. The National Park Service allows people to gather fruit, berries, nuts and other renewable resources for personal consumption, but prohibits killing plants and animals.

But more important, Frederick said, is protecting rare and sensitive species that are damaged by ramp gatherers.

"They're just trampling through the areas, and they don't know what they're trampling on. They're just after the ramps."

Ramps still may be collected on U.S. Forest Service lands with a permit. The Great Smoky Mountains and Shenandoah national parks also allow visitors to collect ramps for personal consumption, although few, if any, can be found in Shenandoah.

The plant - allium tricoccum - is native to North America, ranging from Nova Scotia south into the mountains of Georgia and west to North Dakota and Missouri.

According to the World Book Encyclopedia, some people believe the Indian word "checagou," from which Chicago got its name, refers to the smell of a ramp. (In other words, in the Windy City you don't want to be downwind of anyone who had ramps for lunch.)

Their staying power apparently saved them from mass commercialization, although mountain people have for generations used ramps for cooking.

Regardless of their bad rap, ramps have fostered festivals in Southwest Virginia, Tennessee and North Carolina, drawing thousands of people to celebrate the wild onion every spring and to challenge themselves in ramp-eating contests.

In 1992, a Rural Retreat man ate 69 ramps in three minutes at the Mount Rogers Volunteer Fire Department Ramp Festival. He won $100 and a bottle of Scope.