By KEVIN WALKER
Michigan Correspondent

LANSING, Mich. — An order signed last year by then-Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Chief Rebecca Humphries, making it illegal to possess feral swine and set to take effect July 8, has been delayed three months.
Gov. Rick Snyder is hoping the extra time will give the legislature the leeway it needs to craft legislation to regulate hunt clubs that include wild boar. Humphries signed the order in December 2010 and gave it an effective date of July 8 in the hope the state legislature would fix the problem by regulating the possession of feral swine.

There are an estimated 65 feral swine hunt clubs or breeding facilities in Michigan. The order declares feral swine an invasive species; feral boar, swine and hogs are included in the order, along with Old World swine, razorback, Eurasian wild boar and Russian wild boar.

“Feral swine pose a significant risk to Michigan’s wildlife, ecosystems and agricultural resources, and they are a serious disease threat to humans, wildlife and domesticated pigs,” Humphries said, in issuing the order. “I urge the legislature to address this issue in 2011. Michigan is in a unique position to address this threat to our natural and agricultural resources by having our legal options aligned, but regulation is greatly needed for us to be effective.”
Late last month the state House passed House Bill 4503, which would regulate swine hunt clubs and define them as “agricultural enterprises.” It would be modeled after the law that regulates private cervid facilities; however, the bill hasn’t passed the state Senate and the legislature adjourned last week for its summer break, so it’s not clear whether this legislation will become law.
Also, state Sen. Rick Jones (R-Grand Ledge) is getting ready to introduce a bill that would codify Humphries’ order declaring feral swine an invasive species, as a way of codifying the DNR order, but it’s also unclear what will happen to this legislation once it’s introduced.

Despite the delay, for now at least the DNR is maintaining the same schedule for enforcement of the order.

“Active enforcement wouldn’t start until April 1 of next year,” said Mary Detloff, a spokeswoman for the DNR. “That way hunt facilities could schedule at least two hunts – one in the fall and one in the spring – to bring down their wild hog population.”

Agricultural stakeholders are squarely against regulation of swine hunt clubs. They believe regulation will not work and that passing a law to do so will amount to simply reversing the ban on feral swine.

“At a time when 35 states and the USDA have declared wild hogs an invasive species, it is unbelievable that Michigan would even consider regulating wild hogs rather than join the vast majority of states that recognize the threat these animals pose and are trying to eliminate them, or have already made it illegal to have these animals for sport shooting purposes,” said Sam Hines, executive vice president of the Michigan Pork Producers Assoc. late last month, after the House vote to lift the ban and regulate feral swine.

“By passing legislation that will attempt to regulate the sport shooting facilities that have been responsible for creating this problem, the House has put not only the pork industry in jeopardy, but all of Michigan agriculture, along with the state’s environmental landscape and natural resources. Hopefully, the Senate will see fit to protect this state’s vibrant agriculture industry and natural resource base by rejecting these bills.”

Pork producers are especially afraid of feral swine because of pseudorabies, a disease that affects pigs and which could be spread from feral swine to the domestic herd. Ag leaders point to an outbreak of pseudorabies in Michigan three years ago as an illustration of what could happen on a much larger scale if feral swine are not controlled.

In May 2008, 19 pseudorabies-infected swine were discovered at several hunt club facilities and it was diagnosed in five feral swine found outside a hunt club in Saginaw County. According to a House Fiscal Agency letter to the state House Agriculture Committee from June 2008, taking care of this problem cost the state $415,000. “The (agriculture) department indicated that the disease threatens Michigan’s $230 million swine industry based on the annual value of swine product sales – a $500 million industry if one includes breeding swine,” the letter reads.