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North Canadian 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 watershed is located along the North Canadian River and adjacent to Canton Lake. 

The project’s area is 1,947 square miles (1,246,080 acres). The vast majority is private land with (15,000 acres) US Army Corps of Engineers’ land associated with Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation (ODWC) Wildlife Management Areas on Canton Lake. Crop land represents 57.3% of the project areas with wheat, corn, cotton, grain sorghum, and hay crops predominating. Range and pasture represent 30% of the landscape in the counties.

Map(s)

The watershed is located along the North Canadian River and adjacent to Canton Lake, in Dewey and Blaine counties.
The watershed is located along the North Canadian River and adjacent to Canton Lake, in Dewey and Blaine counties.

Anticipated Partner Activities

Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), through funding agreements with partners, will support assistance to producers through purchase of “smart traps” (traps equipped with remote monitoring and activation technology) to be utilized by Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) Wildlife Services (WS) personnel or loaned out to cooperating landowners, procurement of monitoring service agreements for the cellular data requirements for these traps and reimbursement for bait used in the traps.

The project will consist of procurement of a minimum of 10 remote monitored/activated traps, each consisting of a camera equipped with cellular data transmission and remote activation capabilities. Estimated number of traps based on 1 trap per 50 sq. miles and assuming coverage of 50% of total project area. Trap systems will require a cellular data card and plan for remote monitoring. Each trap shall also have a timed feeder to assure pre-baiting is conducted and an external trail camera to monitor feral swine activity outside of the trap. Trailers for hauling and mobilization of traps may be needed. Bait for traps can be reimbursed for landowner-provided bait or purchased and provided by the partner.

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, NRCS, and APHIS. It is required that APHIS maintains operational control of feral swine management activities.

Monitoring/Evaluation Requirements of Partner

For this project, partners are expected to monitor project progress both before and after feral swine removal.

Damage data will be analyzed to allow comparisons between landowners conducting their own control, landowners utilizing WS services and landowners not conducting management. Damage data will also be organized along geographic lines to allow comparisons to control results (e.g. heat maps of damage and take/effort to quantify results in relation to efforts).

Information expected to be collected for monitoring efforts may include:

  • Pre-control damage estimates and post-control damage assessments for the project area 
  • Landowner participation in the program, expressed in numbers of landowners, acreage and geographic distribution within the area 
  • Reported landowner efforts (hours spent trapping, landowner sponsored restoration of damage, etc.) 
  • Acres where feral swine management occurred under direct and indirect management 
  • Numbers of feral swine removed, by method, estimates of percentage of the population removed 
  • Any documented changes in land use 
  • Economic costs of the project and benefit
  • Final restoration data, including types of damage restored, project(s) used and costs.

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. Partners will hold community level training and educational events, including workshops (minimum 1 per county per year of the project), online events, press releases and demonstration days (e.g. coordinating demonstration of feral swine damage restoration).

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