When “Free for the Picking” Became “Please Present Your Documentation” There was a time in Florida when a person looking across a field of saw palmetto bushes might have seen exactly what it appeared to be: a lot of bushes with a lot of berries. Back then, if law enforcement discovered you in a field of saw palmettos, you might at most, get trespassed. But get caught in an orange grove or be caught with oranges you picked, back then and currently, you could be facing a third degree felony. But saw palmetto berries, priced back then at about 20 cents a pound, were not a priority for law enforcement. Today, Florida sees something else....a regulated commercial commodity. And depending upon where you pick, whose land you're standing on, whether your paperwork matches that particular property, and what happens to the berries afterward, that innocent-looking berry can become the centerpiece of a criminal investigation. Welcome to Florida's newest seasonal cottage industry: Illegal P...