Five Big Island farmers signed up to help the U.S. Department of Agriculture better understand and manage the impacts feral swine are having on natural resources and human health and safety.
In April, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service announced Hawaii and the U.S. territory of Guam would join Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Mississippi in a new conservation pilot program aimed at addressing feral pig management.
Shirley T. Nakamura, assistant director for programs at NRCS in Honolulu, said a total of 12 people — five from Hawaii County and seven from Guam — signed up to participate by the May 15 deadline.
“Our field offices are in the process of ranking the applications that were received,” she wrote in an email Wednesday. “We expect to select applications for funding some time next week.”
Because of privacy issues, NRCS was unable to provide a list of who from the Big Island applied.
If selected, participants will have to agree to monitor for feral swine damage for at least three years, take steps to control the feral animals, restore damage to natural resources created by the pigs, and provide annual reports to NRCS.
“Feral swine is a problem on all the islands in the state,” Nakamura wrote. “Hawaii County was selected because of the extensive pig damage on the island, the interest expressed by a number of farmers in Hawaii County who are trying to address the problem, and the possibility of success for this pilot project.”
Funds for the program, a figure that was not disclosed, are being provided through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program to address three primary purposes, including determining the impacts upon the natural resources, developing a management plan to address identified feral pig impacts, and evaluating the effectiveness of practices in reducing the impacts to natural resources, according to a release.
The problems associated with the species — native plant consumption, erosion and watershed degradation — are well documented.
In 2007, USDA and the County of Hawaii partnered on a year-long study that concluded the problem of feral swine was widespread on the Big Island, with no district immune to damage.
“Needless to say, the feral pig problem will continue to persist countywide, and long-term solutions will have to be formulated to curtail future pig damage issues,” the report states.
Of the 448 pigs captured as part of the 2007 study, 268 were tested for disease. Twenty-three tested positive for swine brucellosis and 44 tested positive for pseudorabies.
Email Chris D’Angelo at cdangelo@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
