With all the hub-bub being touted by Walker Cat Machinery that “Life Is Thriving on Mountain Top Mines”, I thought everyone might find the following of interest.

One of the most unique game animals in West Virginia is the wild boar (Sus scrofa). It occurred only in the southernmost portions of the state, and it has historically been viewed as a blessing and a curse. While many surrounding states have welcomed the non-native big game animal into their management programs, West Virginia has done little to capitalize on the wild boar.

Many border states that contain viable populations of wild boar have created state sponsored hunting programs and have partnered with private hunting clubs and organizations in order to generate income into the states and counties where they operate.

A simple internet search reveals that on managed game farms and game lands in surrounding states (namely Kentucky and Ohio), the going rate for a wild boar hunt typically ranges from $400-$600. That is per animal with no guarantee of success. With the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources (DNR) being plagued with financial woes, primarily due to decreased revenue from an aging population of hunters, it would only appear prudent for them to consider promoting wild boar management instead of letting this potential opportunity slip by.

According to Tom Dotson, a district wildlife biologist with the WV DNR, the main reason for the decline of wild boar in the four southern coalfield counties of Boone, Logan, Raleigh and Wyoming is habitat destruction resulting in poor reproduction and survival capabilities. “Specifically mountain top mining and logging have eliminated much of the once mature oak forest that was favored by the boar”. (Dotson, 2004)

Photo by Matthew Burns, April 2007; Prime Wild Boar Habitat on Kayford Mountain?

Like most animal populations, its numbers are associated with its reproductive rates and food availability. For example, sows typically only go into estrous (heat) during periods of high food availability in order to maximize reproductive success.

“Impacts of coal mining in the boar area account for significant losses of habitat in Casey Creek, Sycamore Creek, Jigley Fork and Skin Poplar Fork. During the last 6 years, 1999 – 2004, there are 14,424 acres under coal mining permits in Boone County and 4,946 acres in Logan County. Clearly much of the ideal oak forest habitat favored by the wild boar has disappeared”, stated Tom Dotson of the West Virginia DNR. (Dotson, 2004)

Prior to the mid-1990’s, much of the four coalfield county area was covered with mature oak forest. This mature oak forest provided a prime mast-filled habitat; in short, it became premium real estate for the wild boar. Since that time, increased natural resource extraction has occurred there and has drastically decreased the prime habitat for wild boar. Historically, more than 75% of the wild boar harvest in West Virginia came from these areas. (WV DNR)
“However, accelerated mining activity continues to degrade habitat and limit hunter access. As a result”, states Dotson, “the future of West Virginia’s wild boar is still uncertain.” (Dotson, 2007)

Data from Hunting Statistics for West Virginia Wild Boar Seasons, 1979-2003, graph by Matthew Burns ©2008
One has but to look at the above graph containing data from the WV DNR to clearly see that wild boar populations started to plummet in direct correlation with a rapid increase in mountaintop removal operations beginning in the mid-1990’s. Be aware that 1979 was the first year any form of monitoring was conducted on wild boar populations in West Virginia, and that year 200 permits were issued for wild boar in the state. Juxtapose that with 6,000 permits that were issued for every year of the 1990’s.

This clearly illustrates that the lack of a management program for wild boar, compounded with increased MTR operations resulting in loss of habitat, have severely impacted wild boar populations in the southern coalfields region, and thus have reduced the potential success of any future wild boar management program for the coalfields. Once again, King Coal wins out over any form of long-term sustainability.

Advancing a wild boar program also has the potential to generate income from increased tourism, after all, these hunters would have to stay and eat somewhere, and it is not a stretch of the imagination that many of them would frequent local sporting good stores to equip themselves with the very latest in hunting paraphernalia.

Am I advocating turning the southern West Virginia coalfields into a veritable wild boar paradise? No, there would be problems associated with that as well. But I do know that a healthy, thriving population of wild boar would be a welcome addition to the local economies of the southern counties, and should be a bright spot in wildlife management plans of the WV DNR. And lastly, and most importantly, this would be an alternative that doesn’t involve obliterating the very mountains that we call home.

Works Cited

Dotson, Thomas, West Virginia Wildlife Magazine, Wild About Boar, Spring/Summer 2007.

Dotson, Tom, West Virginia Division of Natural Resources website, Wild Boar, 2004. http://www.wvdnr.gov/Hunting/BGB2004BoarWildBoar.shtm

West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. Hunting Statistics for West Virginia Wild Boar Seasons, 1979-2003, http://www.wvdnr.gov/Hunting/PDFFiles/BGB2003boar1.PDF