House subcommittee hears testimony alleging Michigan DNR overreach enforcing feral-pig invasive species order

The Oversight Subcommittee on Weaponized Initiative of State Government convened a hearing in Lansing to examine complaints that the Michigan Department of Natural Resources has overreached in enforcing a 2010 Invasive Species Order (ISO) and subsequent rules governing feral or wild pigs.

Senator McBroom, who opened the witnesses' testimony, told the committee that "The DNR has waged a heavy handed campaign against farmers through its 2010 invasive species order amendment and the 2011 feral pig ban," and said the agency had at times treated heritage and domesticated breeds as illegal, placing producers at legal and financial risk.

The testimony focused on three themes: the legal authority the DNR used to assert control over pigs raised or sold on farms, the scientific basis for a genetic test the DNR has used in enforcement, and specific enforcement tactics witnesses described as undercover operations that harvested animals and later fed evidence into litigation.

Why this matters: witnesses said the agency's actions have put game-ranch businesses and associated rural economies at risk, forced some producers to slaughter or liquidate stock, and pushed small operations out of the state. Committee members signaled intent to demand documents and to pursue legislative changes if necessary.

Witnesses and key…