China uses more Asian devil's club (Oplopanax elatus) as a medical herb than all Alaskan agricultural export production combined. We are evaluating the harvesting, processing and marketing of the Alaskan devil's club (Oplopanax horridum) that is primarily owned or controlled by Native Alaskan residents in 13 coastal communities. The Japanese call this plant (Echinopanax japonicus nakai) and the Chinese and Russians call it (Oplopanax elatus). Most Asian medical research is written in either Chinese or Japanese. The root has never been harvested commercially in North America and will make a significant economic impact on those residents of the Alaskan villages that cooperate in this sustainable agriculture endeavor to harvest Alaska's most "obnoxious" weed in a reasonable and renewable manner. The root grows primarily in the coastal forest of Alaska from Kodiak in the west to Ketchikan in the southeastern portion of the State. It is estimated to dominate well over 50,000 acres of land and can yield a profit in excess of $10,000 per acre if our early estimates supplied by Chinese scientists can be verified. Each root is estimated to be worth in excess of $5 each; with the price of a dried root varying from $10 to $30 per dried pound. Some Chinese pharmaceutical firms appear to be interested in the bark of the root, which may be worth $200 per dried pound. ANTICIPATED RESULTS & POTENTIAL COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS OF RESEARCH The successful evaluation of the ownership, harvesting techniques and processing of this renewable devil's club plant; combined with a successful marketing effort will materially effect the economic well being of hundreds of disadvantaged Alaskan Natives that dwell in or near this renewable resource that is often owned by the local Native Village Corporations established under the ANCSA of 1976.
