Panel lays out compromises on feral hogs

Tweaks would ease rules on fencing, transport of animals

The Arkansas Livestock and Poultry Commission presented several compromise rules governing feral hogs Monday at a joint meeting of the House and Senate Agriculture, Forestry and Economic Development committees.

The compromises came after hunting and trapping advocates complained that rules created by the commission under Act 1104 of 2013 were too restrictive. The act aimed to prevent the spread of wild hogs throughout the state and protect Arkansas’ agricultural resources.

The act and the subsequent rules prohibited new hog-hunting facilities from opening, required all transport of hogs to be done during the day by licensed trappers, required that all hogs not immediately slaughtered be permanently tagged for identification and required certain structural changes at hunting facilities to ensure the wild hogs could not escape.

Hunters have been at odds with members of the agricultural and preservation communities and water utilities interested in protecting watersheds and drinking water quality.

“We’ve had a lot of talk and a lot of work on the feral hog legislation,” said Preston Scroggin, executive director of the commission. “We tried to accommodate everybody as best we could. … Not everybody is happy with it, but I think it’s a good step forward. We all know we have a feral hog problem.

“These hogs are moving on their own without any help,” he added.

Some of the changes in the regulations presented Monday include a change in the fencing requirements.They no longer require fences to extend a minimum of 18 inches below the ground at hunting facilities as long as the fencing has two strands of “hot wire,” or electrified fencing, to prevent escape. Another change would allow trappers to transport hogs at night to temporary holding facilities on their way to a hunting facility as long as the trappers are licensed and the temporary facilities are approved.

“To me from the initial discussion, there are some things that you have made concessions [on] that I like,” said Rep. Homer Lenderman, D-Brookland. “I think the hot-wire concession is big.”

Lenderman, a former high school agriculture teacher who hunts wild hogs, asked for several clarifications at the hearing Monday and was told most of the other portions of the regulations would not be changed. The rules still prohibit additional hunting facilities from opening, require permanent ear tags and limit the number of trappers permitted for each of the state’s four hunting facilities.

Lenderman previously suggested allowing the use of sticker tags - sometimes used for showing animals - instead of the permanent plastic ones. He argued Monday that hunters do not want to kill a hog if it has an ear tag and that placing the tags on the animals can be dangerous.

“It’s something I guess we’ll have to live with for a while,” he said.

Rep. Walls McCrary, D-Lonoke, who sponsored the act as a House bill in 2013, said he was worried about any further compromise with the hunting industry.

“This law was drafted not to protect, to encourage or to help feral hogs, or feral hog hunters or feral hog farmers. It was a compromise bill, but what we were trying to do is protect Arkansas agriculture,” he said, noting that other states, including Mississippi, have completely banned the transport of feral hogs.

Other lawmakers were concerned with the fiscal effect of the rules, which will be administered by the commission’s staff members. Scroggin said he plans to help with the facility inspections and said he would keep track of those expenses.

Several people who testified at the hearing also asked whether a slaughterhouse and processing facility that focused on wild hog meat products would be permissible under the law. A representative of a Texas company called Hogs Gone Wild, which processes the meat, said his company made more than $5 million last year.

Scroggin said he interpreted the law as not allowing the facilities and said a future Legislature would have to amend the law to specifically allow them.

Arkansas, Pages 9 on 04/01/2014

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