CALL GOVERNOR TO RESCIND ISO
The local food movement is under attack in Michigan.
In a brazen power grab threatening the livelihood of small farmers across the state, the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) is using the state Invasive Species Act to expand its jurisdiction beyond hunting and fishing to farming operations.
On April 1, 2012, an Invasive Species Order (ISO) that DNR issued in 2010 went into effect.
The ISO prohibits the possession of various breeds of swine; DNR stated that the order was necessary “to help stop the spread of feral swine and the disease risk they pose to humans, domestic pigs, and wildlife as well as their potential for extensive agricultural and ecosystem damage.” On April 4 DNR issued a press release stating it had begun active enforcement of the order.
The ISO allows DNR to SEIZE AND DESTROY heritage breeds of pigs raised by Michigan farmers; DNR WILL NOT COMPENSATE FARMERS whose pigs are destroyed. Possession of prohibited swine after April 1 is a felony with PENALTIES OF UP TO TWO YEARS IN JAIL and $20,000 IN FINES.
The ISO will impact farmers and consumers around the nation; the National Pork Producers Association and government agencies in other states are watching to see whether DNR can get away with enforcing the ISO.
Please share this information with your friends!
TAKE ACTION
Michigan Governor Rick Snyder has the power to rescind the order. People need to call, fax or email the governor demanding that he immediately rescind this unconstitutional ISO. Below are suggested talking points and a sample letter.
Governor Rick Snyder, State Capitol
P.O. Box 30013
Lansing, MI 48909
Rick.Snyder@michigan.gov
PHONE: 517-335-7858
FAX: 517-335-6863
TALKING POINTS
1. DNR needs to stay off farms
2. DNR needs to repeal the Invasive Species Order to not include ALL swine that are under the husbandry of humans no matter how they are raised.
3. The order denies consumers their rights to access foods of their choice.
4. The order violates farmers’ property rights and the right to make a living.
BACKGROUND
According to DNR’s interpretation of the ISO, any pig in Michigan whether wild or domestic could be prohibited. Instead of using common sense in limiting the order to feral hogs that roam in wild and unfenced public and private lands, DNR is basing its interpretation as to what constitutes a prohibited swine on eight physical characteristics (phenotype) listed in its Declaratory Ruling issued on the swine ISO in December 2011. The Ruling lists a ninth “characteristic” consisting of “characteristics not currently know to” DNR. The characteristics include ones involving underbelly fur, tail structure, ear structure, and skeletal appearance. Using these characteristics, any pig in the state could be prohibited under the ISO.
Mark Baker, a hog farmer in Marion, is one of four people who have filed lawsuits to stop the implementation of the ISO. As pointed out in Baker’s complaint, “There is nothing inherently vicious or unhealthy about the breeds of pigs targeted by the ISO. Any pig, whether used in ‘domestic hog production’ or not, will exhibit the same problematic behaviors if allowed to become feral, that is, to live outside the husbandry of humans. It is the state of being feral which causes the problems identified by the DNR in the ISO and declaratory ruling, not any particular breed of pig.”
Baker has decided to sell the majority of his herd to pay for legal expenses while at the same time reducing the incentive for DNR to its agents to the farm to depopulate his herd.
There are two political agendas at work behind the issuing of the ISO. According to Baker’s complaint, DNR has tried unsuccessfully for many years to have the legislature eliminate hunting preserves and estates. In these facilities, privately owned pigs and other animals live in a contained natural environment where customers pay for a chance to hunt and harvest these animals. Further the DNR does not collect licensing fees from these contained private preserves which they do get from hunters on public and other private land.
Implementing the ISO would be a step for DNR towards its eventual goal of eliminating the hunting preserves.
There is evidence that feral swine are not the problem that DNR claims. The Michigan legislature passed a shoot-on-sight law allowing feral pigs to be hunted. Testimony presented to the Michigan Senate Agriculture Committee on March 29 revealed that less than 50 feral swine were killed in Michigan in 2011; by contrast, 140,000 deer were killed in the state during that time.
The other agenda at work is that of the Michigan Pork Producers Association (MPPA) who has publicly supported the ISO. In a February 27 editorial published in the Manistee Advocate newspaper, State Senator Darwin L. Booher mentioned, “The small farmers I have talked to wonder why the DNR is singling out their pigs and is joining forces with the Michigan Pork Producers Association on this issue. They believe the association wants all pigs to be raised in confinement facilities, and the best way to achieve that is to make it illegal to raise certain swine, especially those offering alternatives to the white pork raised in confinement.” At this time, it is certain only that swine raised in confinement facilities would be exempt from the ISO. For the confinement operations, the ISO could effectively reduce or eliminate the competition.
On March 29, there was an effort in the Michigan legislature to extend the effective date ninety days; but lobbying by MPPA successfully killed the measure.
Implementation of the ISO will deny farmers their property rights and the right to make a living. It will reduce or eliminate customer access to heritage breed pork, a product that has become increasingly popular in restaurants across the state. All that could be left for consumers would be factory pork produced by confined animal feeding operations (CAFOs).
SAMPLE LETTER
Feel free to use the sample letter below to help you get started.
Re: Michigan Invasive Species Order on Swine
Governor Snyder,
It has come to my attention that the Michigan DNR has issued an Invasive Species Order on Michigan swine that includes a prohibitively broad definition of what constitutes an invasive swine. Many of the characteristics in the order’s list of phenotype traits also apply to heritage/old world swine breeds that are being raised by hundreds of farmers throughout the state.
It is my concern that these farms could be threatened by the DNR, which does not grant protections to these swine that are being raised responsibly, in contained fences on distinct properties and in legitimate agricultural operations. Here is what Rodney Stokes, director of the Michigan DNR has said about the order:
“Any swine, whether pure or hybrid, exhibiting these characteristics are prohibited. All people in the state of Michigan are subject to this prohibition regardless of their use of this type of swine. Your constituents that wish to purchase swine can look at the characteristics listed in the Ruling and choose swine that do not exhibit the prohibited characteristics.”
And from the words of one Michigan hog farmer: “Our concern is that this ruling effectively eliminates genetic diversity in the Michigan hog population, leaving us with the less hardy, non-foraging hybrids suited only for large hog-house production.”
Unfortunately, there are thousands of consumers and farmers who specifically would like to choose to raise and consume pork that would be banned by the DNR. It is therefore a violation of our right to raise and eat the breeds of animals that we choose, granted they constitute no grave threat to the health and well being of the current domestic pig population nor to the Michigan ecosystems monitored by the DNR.
We urge you to support repealing the DNR Invasive Species Order. Old world/heritage breed swine must be allowed to be raised by farmers and not be allowed to be confused by the DNR with feral hogs who have bred and roam in wild and unfenced public and private lands.
Sincerely,
Name
City, State and Zip
gerald belford says
why is it not put on tv or in the papers more about what the dnr is doing to to the poor hog farmers of small farms in MI. that is udderaly ridiculous that the state can get away without compensating Mark Baker for the loss of his hogs and the money he has spent in his fight with the MDNR in court.people should know the underhanded ploys that Gov. Snider and the attorney general shutte tried in making a law a day or so when Mark baker was to go to court in his own township that anybody sueing the state of MI had to go to Lansing to do it.(i.e.) where the have their own little cliche of judges. we as citizens of this fine state need to ferret these kind of people out of office,and give the state back to the people where it belongs instead of to people who have no backbone and buckle under to big corporations.