Rangers posted to guard fiddlehead ferns

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CORNISH, N.H., April 25 (UPI) -- Officials with the Saint-Gaudens National Historical Site in New Hampshire said rangers have been posted to prevent foraging for fiddlehead ferns at the park.

Steve Walasewicz, Saint-Gaudens' chief of resource management and maintenance, said the fiddleheads, a New England culinary delicacy, "have always drawn a lot of attention" and signs posted at the historical site in previous years to discourage people from harvesting them have failed to protect the plants, the Valley News, Lebanon, N.H., reported Wednesday.

Walasewicz said Saint-Gaudens Superintendent Rick Kendall posted a pair of National Park Service rangers in the area for four days last week to stop the fiddlehead filching. He said the rangers did not issue any citations, but they informed people seeking the ferns that they were off-limits for picking.

"They are commissioned federal law enforcement officers, but they were chosen because of their ability to serve in an interpretive and educational role," Walasewicz said. "Their primary purpose was to get the word out that you can't pick plants for personal consumption on Park Service property."