A financial incentive-based payout package aimed at eradicating wild boars at large throughout the province is making a difference locally. Normand Boulet, agricultural fieldman for the Municipal District of Smoky River 130, says five sets of wild boar ears were submitted to the municipality by the end of last December. That translates to an accumulate payout of $500 ($100 for each set of ears) on behalf of the M.D., half of which is recovered through Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development’s Wild Boar Control Program. The one-year pilot program was launched last December as part of government strategy aimed at eradicating wild boars within Alberta. Wild boars were added as a pest to the province’s Agricultural Pests Act (under its pest and nuisance control regulation) in the spring of 2008. “When running at large, these animals pose a threat to the safety of people and property,” says Boulet. The guidelines of the program permit landowners to destroy any wild boars which are found on their respective property. From there, the landowners (or hunters who must be granted permission to hunt wild boars on their land) are asked to submit each pair of ears to participating agriculture service boards (represented by partnering municipalities) for a payment of $50 which is reimbursed from the province. That payment has increased to $100 per set of ears in a number of municipalities including the M.D. of Smoky River, which has established a cap of $5,000 for the first 100 pairs of wild boar ears submitted. The increase was endorsed by M.D. council in December of 2009 as an added incentive to help control and eradicate the wild boar population in the Peace Country. “Once the cap is achieved the payment will drop to $50 per pair, which is what Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development is covering through its program,” says Boulet. Another municipality which has implemented the limited $100 payment structure is the M.D. of Big Lakes. “The M.D. of Big Lakes has also decided to increase the incentive to $100 per pair, which is very good news for the M.D. of Smoky River,” Boulet explains. “It means that people won’t be tempted to bring in wild boar ears harvested from Big Lakes here for the extra incentive we were offering.” At present, Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development says 24 of 69 agricultural service boards in the province have signed up to the Wild Boar Control Program - a response which Boulet says is being hampered by concerns among many municipalities. “Some concerns have been expressed by municipalities where there are still wild boar operations in place,” he explains. “The fear is that people will turn in ears from ‘domesticated’ wild boar and claim they were ‘at large.’” A resolution was passed at the Provincial Agricultural Service Boards Conference in Medicine Hat Jan. 29 calling upon Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development to implement a permit system for the raising of wild boars similar to that of raising elk and deer. That resolution would stipulate fencing requirements to prevent escapes and allow for a more pro-active approach to the control of wild boar at large. To date, the government department reports receiving payment requests for 26 pair of ears throughout the province up to the end of December. The M.D. of Smoky River continues to accept names of hunter/trappers with an interest in hunting wild boar at large. Those names are then passed on to any landowners who are interested in their services. “By releasing the names of hunters to landowners the M.D. in any way sanctioning these individuals as responsible hunters or trappers. We are simply acting as a resource to put landowners in contact with with individuals interested in helping them destroy wild boar at large,” Boulet explains. The Wild Boar Control Program continues until Dec. 31 of 2009 at which time it will be reviewed by Alberta Agriculture & Rural Development. Program participants in the Peace Country include the M.D. Big Lakes, Clear Hills County, M.D. of Northern Lights, Northern Sunrise County, Saddle Hills County and the M.D. of Smoky River. For more information contact Boulet at (780) 837-2221 or call the M.D. of Big Lakes at (780) 523-5955.