LANSING, Mich. — The deadline for implementation of an order banning the possession of exotic swine is fast approaching, although there are still lawsuits pending over it.

April 1 is the deadline for game preserves to have their property rid of exotic swine species that are used for game hunts on the preserves, said Ed Golder, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR). “It’s the time when active enforcement begins,” he said.

“We’ve given ranch owners a lot of time to come into compliance with the order. DNR will do the enforcement, the Department of Agriculture is working with us on this, as well as the attorney general. We’re going to deal with ranches on a case-by-case basis. Our hope going forward is to work cooperatively with ranch owners.

“We can’t talk about how we’re going to enforce the order; we don’t want to put conservation officers in jeopardy,” he added.

Golder said in some cases ranch owners have called the DNR to work with it to make sure they are doing the right things to come into compliance with the new rules.

About a year ago the Michigan Assoc. of Animal Farmers (MAFA), a group representing game preserves, asked the DNR for a declaratory ruling around the legality of the original swine ban order, which was issued in December 2010. The original order declares feral swine an invasive species and bans the possession of exotic swine. The DNR’s declaratory ruling, issued last December, upholds the order.

The declaratory ruling holds that “wild boar, wild hog, wild swine, feral pig, feral hog, feral swine, Old World swine, razorback, Eurasian wild boar, Russian wild boar (Sus scrofa Linnaeus)” are illegal to possess. The original order and the declaratory ruling are public and can be found on the DNR’s website.

“The declaratory ruling lays out very clearly the criteria we’re going to use to enforce the order,” Golder said.

As a rationale for the new policy, state officials argued free-ranging pigs are found disproportionately in areas around game preserves that offer pig hunts. The domestic swine industry is worried feral swine will come into contact with domestic pigs, which could lead to an outbreak of pseudorabies in the domestic pig population. This could, in turn, lead to a ban on the export of Michigan pigs to neighboring states and Canada.

Michigan has no processing facility for pigs and exports tens of thousands of pigs to neighboring states every month for finishing. If an outbreak of pseudorabies were to occur, all of that could come to a screeching halt. But that isn’t stopping the lawsuits.

Last May MAFA and Douglas Miller – who owns a game preserve – sued the DNR in Ingham County Circuit Court over the order. The case ended up before the Michigan Court of Appeals, which ruled last month that the order is proper. There are several lawsuits going on right now, said Debbie Munson-Badini, a spokeswoman for the DNR who is based in the Upper Peninsula (U.P.).

“There have been subsequent lawsuits regarding the invasive species order,” she said. “There are several that are open. With pending litigation, everyone is a little restrained in what they can say.”

Munson-Badini refused to say anything specific about what she’s heard from owners of game preserves in her area about the issue, for good or ill. She said there are about 10 facilities in the U.P. that either raise sporting swine or have them on their property for hunting purposes.

Miller, who represents MAFA and owns Thunder Hills game preserve in Jackson, refused to talk with Farm World because of pending litigation, but he told the Kalamazoo Gazette in 2010 a ban on swine hunting on preserves will be bad for the industry.

He told the paper the ban is really about anti-hunting prejudice and is aimed at decimating the state’s $60 million game ranch industry. Miller said pig hunts are the “bread and butter” of the smaller game ranches because they are much more affordable than other types of hunts. He said several hunters can split the $525 fee to hunt a large boar.

“Everyone can afford to do that, plus they get the meat,” he told the Gazette. “My deer hunts start at $2,000 and go to $10,000. The really big places, they’ll stay in business because they shoot $50,000 deer.”