Wild Pigs In Cleveland National Forest One Step Closer To Eradication

Teetering at the brink of extinction?

To eradicate or not to eradicate is not the question.
How to eradicate is.

Damage caused by wild pigs in the eastern parts of San Diego county prompted near hysterical complaints by landowners. Soon the general public, most of which has never seen one of the evil beasts let alone was threatened or harmed by one, chimed in and demanded elimination of the pests. Scientists and experts from the Forest Service painted an increasingly dire picture of the potential damage inflicted by the boar now and in the future on wildlife and ecosystems alike. In the end, even certain sovereign Indian tribes joined the chorus of panicked boar foes demanding that the Federal Government do something about this enduring danger to life and limb of innocent bystanders and the environment.
 
The evil boar are allegedly the  result of a failed attempt to establish wild boar hunting on sovereign reservation land. Once the wild pig were really in the wild, their 'protectors' prohibited hunters from hunting access to their lands and lastly even threatened in a comment to this publication  any hunter with great harm to property and body who dares to seek, pursue and shoot any of the evil porcine escapees on reservations.

In response, the U.S. Forest Service decided to study the question and to ask experts, interested parties and the public to comment on eradication methods to be used to eliminate this ever present danger to chaparral, coastal sage scrub, oak woodland and endangered wildlife such as gnatcatcher, least Bell's vireo, Quino checkerspot butterfly and other rare target species.

Time to talk and to engage in discussion has officially ended. No more expert talk, fear mongering by well meaning but ill informed parties and emotional attempts to protect Miss Piggy. Now is the time to separate fact from fiction and to formulate a well founded plan based on facts and suggestions received during the period of public comment.

'Wild Boar Hunting in California . . .'  contacted Pete Gomben, Environmental Coordinator, Cleveland National Forest, about the status of the project. We wanted to know how far the evaluation of the public input has progressed and whether the outlines of a plan are beginning to develop.

Though the official period for comments from the public ended weeks ago, contributions and comments may still be submitted. That tells it all.
Therefore, any hunter or other party interested in the fate of wild pigs in the Cleveland National Forest in eastern San Diego county still has a last chance to send in a well founded comment. Because time is very limited I suggest to send an e-mail to Pete Gomben, Environmental Coordinator at pgomben@fs.fed.us.
Keep it factual, short and to the point considering that this is  an unofficial second chance for those who missed the official comment period.

Work on the project will progress. A plan will be formulated, circulated, commented on, debated and finally approved. My prediction: Well entrenched conventional wisdom and commercial interests will prevail. 
Hunters will lose the challenge of hunting boar in extremely difficult terrain. Wild pigs will move on to the great hunting grounds in the sky where they join the buffalo, beavers, wolves, grizzlies, coyotes and countless other critters that have been hunted to near extinction. There they will providing good and happy hunting for hunters, indigenous or not.
PJJ