by Scott Arnold
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – It's a multi-million dollar problem in Tennessee, and most likely you don't even know it. Wild hogs on the loose have destroyed farms and property all across the state.
Doug Markham with the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency said wild hogs can create big problems for farmers.
"They tear the property all to pieces once they start rooting for food, and if you have never seen what they can do, it looks like a small meteor has hit your place. It will tear them all to pieces," said Markham.
How to deal with this growing problem has become a political issue.
Hunting hogs has been a tradition for many in the state, but state wildlife officials do not want hunters – or their dogs – going near them. Some state lawmakers want to change that.
The destructive work of wild hogs has cost farmers around the state millions of dollars. Around the country, damage caused by wild hogs has been estimated at $1.5 billion.
The problem has become so big the Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency has gone to extreme measures, launching a new program that invites people to kill these pigs.
"What we're trying to do is create a program that lets landowners grant exemptions, kind of like permits on these private properties, for people to kill
these things," said Markham.
The one restriction that has mobilized hunters across this state: the TWRA won't allow them to hunt the hogs with a hunting dog.
Senator Mike Bell, a Republican from Riceville, disagrees with the restriction. He has drafted a new piece of legislation.
"It would remove TWRA's authority to regulate the taking or hunting of hogs on private land. Now TWRA has the authority to regulate that on state owned property," said Sen. Bell.
TWRA officials said the use of hunting dogs makes the problem wild hog problem even worse. They believe hunters have taken the hogs from county to county to grow the sport.
Sen. Bell said there have only two or three confirmed cases of that happening.
"Several years ago the hog market crashed, the domestic hog market crashed, and when it did, I believe there were some pigs that were just turned loose," he said.
The debate has been expected to heat up when state lawmakers go back into session in January.
Meantime the TWRA has produced a new video on their web site that talks about all the serious problems these wild hogs create in Tennessee.
More information about the TWRA program for land-owners hoping for ways to get rid of those wild pigs can also be found online.
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