Michigan Dept Of Natural Resources

Pork police: Michigan Department of Natural Resources to ban 'sporting' pigs ...

SAGINAW — They’re tasty on the barbecue, a challenge to hunt, a nuisance to farmers and sizzling topic in Lansing.

For months legislators have been reviewing a different kind of pork; not the spending kind.

Feral pigs.

The destructive, elusive, harbingers of disease threaten the ecosystem, and are the offspring of escaped livestock or Eurasian swine imported and bred for game hunts, Department of Natural Resources spokeswoman Mary Dettloff said.

The DNR plans to address the problem with a ban that takes effect July 8 that will outlaw importing, owning and breeding non-livestock breed pigs, what game range owners call “sporting pigs.”

One of the most recent feral swine encounters occurred Tuesday in Saginaw County’s Brant Township.

Saginaw County sheriff’s deputies opened fire and killed an aggressive, charging, tusked hog.

Sheriff’s Detective Sgt. Randy Pfau said deputies responded to a home on Ithaca, between Raucholz and South Hemlock, where the homeowner “observed the pig rooting up the property and causing a lot of lawn damage.”

(see sheriff's feral pig shooting story here)

“As they were assessing the pig and its nature, to see if it was a feral pig... they got closer to the pig and the pig really charged them,” Pfau said. “And one of the two deputies that was there shot and killed the pig.

“They had to retreat back to the patrol car as the pig was chasing them.”

Patrick Rusz is the director of Wildlife Programs for the Michigan Wildlife Conservancy and a wild hog expert who supports the swine ban.

After interviewing deputies and the landowner, he determined based on their descriptions — the carcass had already been disposed of — that the pig was a Eurasian-domestic livestock hybrid, what he said is commonly called a “meat hog” at game ranges.

“It’s just a suspicion... but I would guess that it’s from a fairly recent escape or release because it showed absolutely no fear of people,” Rusz said.

He said full-blood Eurasian hogs are usually larger, darker in color, hairier and much more skittish.

Doug Miller, owner of the Thunder Hills Ranch in Jackson County, which raises swine for boar hunts, and a Michigan Animal Farmers Association board member, said the DNR is overstating the problem.

Read and Relax in Michigan Parks | Cedar Springs Post Newspaper

Park & Read Program Offers Free Park Passes for Michigan Readers

Spend a lazy day with a good book in the great outdoors compliments of the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and the Library of Michigan.

Back for a third summer, the DNR and the Library of Michigan are offering their Park & Read program at more than 400 participating libraries across the state.

While checking out a book, Park & Read allows library cardholders to “check-out” a one-day pass that waives the Recreational Passport entry fee into any Michigan state park or recreation area. This $10 savings also provides a one-time, free access to more than 500 events taking place in state parks throughout the summer, and to make the day even more relaxing, some of the state parks are offering the loan of a hammock.

The Grand Rapids Public Library has been a part of the Park & Read program since its inception in 2009. Marking and Communications Manager Kristen Krueger-Corrado says the library saw participation jump by 10 percent last year.

“Many of our patrons are struggling to find work and making due with less. The Park & Read program allows them to have an inexpensive way to enjoy Michigan’s natural beauty, spend time with family and friends, and exercise their mind and body,” Krueger-Corrado said. “Many of our patrons expressed their excitement at being able to check out a Park & Read pass–it was the only way they were able to afford to take their family to the beach that summer. And who doesn’t love a day at the beach?”

Passes are valid for seven days from checkout and can be used for one day at any one of Michigan’s 98 state parks.  Passes are valid for day use only.  The program runs through Oct. 1, 2011.

For more information on the program and a complete list of participating libraries, hammock availability, and park events taking place throughout the state, visit www.michigan.gov/stateparks .

Proposed old growth and biodiversity stewardship planning process and draft criteria for Michigan's state forests and other state owned lands, a report from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Odor controls for municipal solid waste landfills, by Jeanna M. Paluzzi, Charles Hersey, Nancy Gooding Wickland prepared for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Working for you, Michigan Department of Natural Resources

Directory -, State of Michigan, Department of Natural Resources

Michigan Department of Natural Resources ORV plan, implementation of act no. 319, public acts of 1975 pertaining to regulation of off-road vehicles on state lands