MONTGOMERY, Ala. – As the Forever Wild Land Trust (FWLT) is preparing for its first meeting of the year on Feb. 1, 2024, in Montgomery, the FWLT Board of Trustees will be focused on an initiative adopted at its last meeting of 2023 to spend up to $1 million to enhance existing efforts to mitigate the impact of feral hog populations.
Many landowners in Alabama and other states in the Southeast will testify about their struggle with ongoing issues related to feral swine populations. These nuisance feral swine populations can be found in all 67 counties in Alabama.
The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) State Lands Division, which administers the Forever Wild program, and ADCNR’s Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division are in a constant battle to control the feral hog populations on the properties they manage. With no methods currently available to completely eradicate the feral swine populations, ADCNR staff spend a great deal of time and money working to reduce feral hog populations on ADCNR and Forever Wild properties. Several of these properties have adjacent acreages.