Wild Pig Hunting and Control Bill Passes Assembly, Senate

A bill that would radically alter wild pig hunting and control passed the Senate in a concurrence vote on Tuesday, sending the the bill to Governor Gavin Newsom’s desk to sign or veto.

Senate Bill 856, authored by Senator Bill Dodd (D-Napa), would move provisions making wild pigs an exotic species rather than a game species. While SB 856 would not allow wild pigs to be controlled by poison anymore, the pig tag requirement for hunting would be changed to a $25 yearly resident validation, or a $90 yearly non-resident validation, allowing for unlimited wild pig kills starting in 2024, rather than the current tag limit. Non-resident hunting licenses would also see wild pigs be added to the animals allowed to be hunted.

Other limits, such as setting certain number of kills based on gender of the pigs, would be removed,  and would make it illegal to release any hog, boar, pig, or swine to live in a wild or feral state upon public or private land unless it is a contained hunting preserve. SB 856 would also end all state programs benefiting wild pigs beginning in July 2024, instead replacing them with hunting provisions to manage the pigs. Finally, the bill would  would make it illegal to import swine into the state unless it is for slaughter or they have been given permission from the California Department of Food and Agriculture.

Senator Dodd wrote the bill earlier this year to combat the growing wild pig population in California, which has caused environmental, farm, and private property damage across California for years.

“Unfortunately, swelling numbers of wild pigs have become a major scourge on California wildlands, endangering sensitive habitats, farms, and other animals,” said Dodd earlier this year. “My bill will increase opportunities to hunt them and do so more economically so that we may bring our pig population under control.”

SB 856 passes Assembly, Senate

However, some hunting groups have been opposed to the bill. Besides no limits already being in place on wild pig hunting, hunting groups have said that the bill would reduce hunting opportunities in the state and would significantly reduce the amount of money going into the Big Game Management Account, which funds state programs for public hunting. More specifically, many hunters worry about hunting preserves starting to disappear if the bill should pass.

“This is a bill that seems good on the surface, but really has a lot of hidden problems,” Tyler McCann, a hunter who assists out of state hunters coming into California, told the Globe on Wednesday. “To the layman, it can look really good, but what it really brings is problems.”

Despite some groups opposing SB 856, the bill was quickly passed through the Senate and Assembly, albeit with many additional amendments added to help make it more palatable for many Republicans and Democrats. On Monday, the amendment efforts paid off with the bill being passed in the Assembly 69-0, and the next day in the Senate 35-0, with only a curious mix of Republicans and Democrats, such as Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco), not voting on the bill.

“I appreciate my fellow lawmakers for bringing us a step closer to controlling this destructive, non-native wild pig population, which is exploding across California,” added Senator Dodd on Tuesday. “They are endangering sensitive habitats, farms and other animals. By increasing opportunities to hunt them we can reduce the threat to our state.”

California Fish and Game Commission member Eric Sklar also praised the passage, noting that “I applaud Sen. Dodd’s tireless effort to get SB856 through the Assembly. He worked diligently with all stakeholders to find common ground and the bill reflects that. If enacted, this bill will begin to tackle the scourge of feral pigs.”

SB 856 is currently on Governor Newsom’s desk awaiting a decision by the end of the month.