Plot Synopsis

Four teams set out into the Great Smoky Mountains every September, searching for wild American Ginseng, a federally protected endangered species, which makes 'seng harvesting a regulated, but profitable trade. Ginseng harvesting is a highly competitive and territorial treasure hunt with many similarities to the commercial fishing industry, with teams coming from long bloodlines who want to conserve as they forage so that their children's children can continue the family business. This one-hour reality series opens with the beginning of a new ginseng season, and SMOKY MOUNTAIN MONEY follows four top teams who set out on the perilous hunt for the highly valuable but extremely elusive root -- the legendary Monster Seng, a huge man-shaped root that is rumored to fetch $10,000 on the Asian market. During the six-week ginseng hunting season, they compete against time, the mountains and their rivals in the hunt, as they travel ancient trails explored by native Cherokee and early settlers and have dangerous run-ins with poisonous timber rattlesnakes, broken tree limbs and more. The four teams are led by: Ricky 'The Legend' Reece, who has earned his legendary status by digging more 'seng out of these mountains than any other hunter and is now digging with Brian and Jeremy; Carl 'The Goat' Bateman, who outdug The Legend last year and now also relies on his twenty-something son, Jeremy McCoy, to do a lot of the heavy climbing and scouting; Cody 'The Ranger' White, who digs with his big sister, Shasta White Martin, and his old lady, Breezy, to make cash to pay off his college debts; and 18-year-old J.R. 'Young Gun' Parker, who lacks the years of experience that his elder hunters have but has landscaper Matt to use his business connections with local landowners.