By Linda Taaffe

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

There could be one less set of footprints on local hiking trails starting this summer. The Mid-Peninsula Regional Open Space District Board of Directors is slated to decide this June on the details of a removal program that would thin out the wild pig population at its Peninsula parks.

Jodi Issacs, district resource management specialist, said the district has recorded a remarkable increase in pig activity at its parks over the past four years, especially at its Long Ridge Open Space Preserve on Skyline, where pigs are moving in from the south and west.

Issacs said the district measures pig density by the amount and frequency of activity. She said there were no pigs in the area until about five years ago.

“If there’s rooting throughout year, we know pretty much they’re in the area and not moving through,” Issacs said. “Five years ago, we noticed them coming in. Their numbers have increased significantly. It’s not surprising with the weather patterns we’ve had … it’s been favorable conditions for pigs.”

Issacs said although the wild pigs are not a safety threat to hikers, their rooting behavior is a threat to the preservation of trails and plants.

Pigs move in large groups, disturbing large areas, she said. They can root trails, destroy seedlings and native plants and cause more sediment to settle in waterways.

“The pigs’ rooting behavior is more devastating to the eye,” Issacs said. “People come to the open meadows for the aesthetics and see rooted hills that have a rotatilled look. Visually, it’s very disturbing.”

Issacs said the pigs’ wide distribution and prolific reproduction make control difficult.

The board allocated $20,000 in this year’s budget for an initial pig control program and a district subcommittee is currently working with the California Department of Fish and Game on a program for district land that could include using contraceptives and sterilization to thin out the pig population or rounding up and euthanizing pigs. She said the proposal would provide pig control year-round over the next three years.