FSCP Pilot Project Areas Meet to Share Ideas, Successes

On December 1, project team members from the Albany Area and Georgia/ Florida Area of the Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program met at the Jones Center at Ichauway to share methodologies, lessons learned, and successes from their respective projects.  

The Feral Swine Eradication and Control Pilot Program (FSCP) was established by the 2018 Farm Bill to respond to the threat feral swine pose to agriculture, native ecosystems, and human and animal health. The FSCP is implemented jointly by USDA’s Natural Resource and Conservation Service (NRCS) and Animal and Plant Health and Inspection Service (APHIS). 

NRCS entered into agreements with the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District and Tall Timbers Research Station to implement the Albany Area and Georgia/ Florida Area projects, respectively. Project partners are responsible for coordinating project activities with landowners within the project area, project monitoring, and collaboration on feral swine removal in partnership with APHIS. 

Team members from the Albany and Ga/Fl Project area meet at the Jones Center on December 1.

“One of the goals of the Albany pilot project area is to build long-term sustainability and transferability through development of a landscape-scale cooperative project model,” says Perri Cooper, Executive Director of the Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District and Project Director of the Albany Area project. “Collaboration among neighboring pilot project areas is really important to achieve that objective. Bouncing ideas and lessons learned off the team working in the Georgia/ Florida area was really invaluable for our team here.” 

Monitoring and evaluation are essential to measuring the success of the pilot projects and the program. This program aims to collect a comprehensive understanding of the extent and nature of damages related to feral swine experienced by landowners in project areas, as well as other natural resource concerns. With projects halfway into the three year timeline, respective project teams found it an opportune time to share overlapping research and monitoring efforts, including water quality analysis, native wildlife population monitoring, GPS collaring, annual project participant surveys, and more. 

"The Tall Timbers feral hog control project continues to have a positive impact on the lands in the Red Hills region," says Kim Sash, Biological Monitoring Coordinator with Tall Timbers. "With over twenty projects similar to ours countrywide, we've found it very useful to collaborate and share our successes and pitfalls with others so we continue to see positive outcomes moving forward." 

Participants in the joint meeting included USDA APHIS staff from both Georgia and Florida, Tall Timbers Research Station project staff, Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District project staff, wildlife and aquatic biologists from the Jones Center at Ichauway, graduate students on both projects, and project technicians. 

The Flint River Soil and Water Conservation District is comprised of farmers, landowners, and community leaders that are dedicated to the conservation, wise use, and protection of natural resources in the Flint River Basin. Learn more about the District at flintriverswcd.org.  

For more information on feral swine control efforts across the state, visit georgiaferalswine.com.