Lowcountry Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program Project
The Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program responds to the threat feral swine pose to American agriculture, landscapes and human and livestock health.
Project Area
The Lowcountry South Carolina Footprint contains six counties (Allendale, Barnwell, Bamberg, Hampton, Jasper, and Colleton) totaling 2,335,624 acres. Much of the project area is privately owned, but a portion of the area includes seven Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs). These WMAs are managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural resources and provide the public with recreational hunting and fishing opportunities. Feral swine are devastating local agricultural production, which is the economic engine of South Carolina. They are also significantly impacting natural resources, including native wildlife habitat, water quality, and soil health.
Map(s)
Anticipated Partner Activities
The partner’s responsibilities may include but are not limited to:
Coordination between Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) and property owners, purchase and distribution of resources to property owners and APHIS, coordination of educational workshops, and development of a monitoring and evaluation program.
The partner must have knowledge of the local area and relationships with existing property owners. The partner will serve as a liaison between APHIS and property owners. The partner will assist with acquiring work initiation documents (Wildlife Services form 12A) from property owners to allow APHIS to provide direct control activities on identified properties.
The partner will purchase equipment and supplies to be loaned to APHIS and property owners inside the project area. The partner must implement the trap loan program according to the South Carolina Feral Swine Task Force protocols. APHIS will provide guidance on equipment type and associated supplies to be purchased. This equipment shall remain as property of the partner if the pilot project concludes.
APHIS will be considered the subject matter experts for implementing feral swine removal and damage reduction activities. Partners will need to collaborate with APHIS personnel when removal activities are requested by participating landowners. All projects will be a collaborative and coordinated effort between the selected partner, Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), and APHIS. It is required that APHIS maintains operational control of feral swine management activities.
Monitoring/Evaluation Requirements of Partner
The partner will be responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive monitoring program evaluating multiple aspects of this pilot project. A comprehensive monitoring and evaluation program is an important component of this pilot project. Evaluation of techniques and strategies utilized to remove feral swine, both by APHIS and landowners that are participating in the project is as important as documenting damages to agriculture, natural resources, property, and water quality alleviated by removal of the animals.
The partner will be responsible for:
- Analyzing wild pig removal data to estimate sit-level abundance and capture probabilities over the sample aera to obtain density estimates
- Analyzing the economic and/ecological benefit
Partners are required to collect standardized information for trapping operations in accordance with APHIS procedures. Examples of data collected include trap location, number of pigs trapped, location of nearby resources, etc.
Training Expectations
Education will be essential aspects of the project to ensure landowners are educated on the need for removing feral swine, approved techniques, and methods for controlling feral swine populations. Partners are expected to assist with training and educational activities.