FERAL PIGS IN HAWAI`I POLICY

Policy Statement

Whereas hunting is an important recreational resource in Hawai`i, and

Whereas without hunting areas some hunters may release pigs wherever they want them,

Therefore it shall be the policy of Sierra Club, Hawai`i Chapter, to support actions which provide hunters with reserves in which to hunt and access for hunting purposes to landlocked public lands and closed watersheds.

and

Whereas a wide variety of native and introduced species, both plant and animal, suffer when habitat is managed for the sole purpose of pig hunting,

Therefore it shall be the policy of Sierra Club, Hawai`i Chapter, to support management actions which:

1) Identify and manage prime native forest ecosystems as pig-free reserves;

2) Identify and manage major pig hunting areas in heavily disturbed ecosystems, with a high proportion of introduced plants, as pig hunting reserves;

3) Manage all watershed areas as healthy ecosystems with maximum water retaining capacity; and

4) Allow managers striving to reduce pig populations in designated pig-free areas to use whatever humane techniques are effective, consistent with public safety, to bring pig numbers down, including open seasons with no bag limits.

This Policy on Feral Pigs in Hawai`i was approved by the Sierra Club Hawai` i Chapter Executive Committee at its quarterly meetings held in January, 1987.