Yellowstone National Park has its lake trout problem, and Congaree National Park has a hog problem.
In Yellowstone, the non-native lake trout that have infested Yellowstone Lake and threatened to wipe out the native cutthroat trout fishery have been beaten back with an aggressive netting program. Across the country at Congaree National Park in South Carolina, officials are trying to come up with a strategy that will diminish their wild hog population. But they're not optimistic about entirely wiping out the hogs, both because of the great reproductive rates the hogs have and because of the difficulty in negotiating the park's backcountry.
"Wild pig populations have the potential to double and triple in size within 4 and 12 months respectively," reads a portion of the park's draft management plan for non-native pigs. It's been "calculated that it would take nine years to eliminate a population of 1,000 individuals with a sustained population reduction of 70 percent per year. While a 70 percent reduction each year may not be achievable in the park given the nature of the terrain and limited staff and resources, these facts highlight the importance of maintaining a comprehensive and sustained wild pig management program."
In their preferred alternative now open for public comment, Congaree officials are proposing an approach that would "center on a sustained trapping and shooting program. The exclusion of wild pigs from small selected areas using fencing or curtain barriers could also be implemented in extreme cases to protect highly sensitive resources..."
Trapping programs such as those being used at Great Smoky Mountains National Park and Cumberland Island National Seashore to control their wild pig problems could be used at Congaree, the plan notes. Pigs that are trapped would then be killed with a gunshot, it adds. A hunting program, if approved, would involve Park Service and/or U.S. Department of Agriculture shooters.
You can read the entire draft management plan, and leave your comments, at this page.
Support Essential Coverage of Essential Places
Comments
Why not just tell Congress about the pigs? They will come racing down pell-mell to grab as many hogs as they can so they can take even more pork back to their home districts.
I know from first-hand experience as a former rural landowner in Texas that wild hogs are a very serious problem; these pests can do tremedous damage in a short period of time. It'll be virtually impossible to eliminate them from areas such as Congaree, but whatever steps the park can take to reduce their numbers as far as possible should be considered.
Coywolf expansion, along with reintroducing cougars back into their native range could help. But, bring up the C word to most people and they get the fear. But, this is what happens when a system lacks apex predators because humans shot them out.
And these hogs, like the insects killing pines in Maine, are introduced. Seems like we humans have a real knack for messing things up.
What's the saying? Something like It's not nice to fool Mother Nature.
I believe that, if a proper appeal were made to our states sportsmen and hunting organizations, there would be many hunters who would be honored to serve their state and country by taking many of these animals. Of course, this form of hog control would require detailed organization and planning to ensure order and participant safety. Also, there might be opportunity to defray some of the costs of the program with participation fees.
I visit this swamp all the time and only once came across a pack of coyotes in hunting mode. It was an amazing sight. There is so much fear and emphasis on wiping out these amazing animals but they help keep the wild hog population in check. Lack of these apex predators means the wild hog numbers grow. You can walk along anywhere in Congaree and see where wild boar have been rooting up the ground. I'm actually more fearful of running into a her of wild boar than a pack of coyotes. Having said that there should be a balance. Wild boar in controlled numbers have their rightful place and people do love seeing them in the swamp.
I would be more than happy to help with the feral hog problem in congaree if i were permitted to. I also agree with a previous comment, that if the park employees would institute a fe to the hunters it is benifiting multiple objectives. To help minimize the hunters bieng where they shouldnt the park could also arrange some type of transport to a specific area with the biggest problem at the moment, also only allow the use of archery equipment would help not disturb others visiting the park at the same time