SANTA ROSA ISLAND : Complaint Halts Plan to Kill Pigs

A federally funded project to eradicate 2,000 pigs on Santa Rosa Island could be lost because a Montana land company is claiming National Park Service officials were unfair in their review of the contract bids.

Bids for the project had not been awarded when the Montana company protested the way its bid to kill the pigs was being reviewed.

Kate Faulkner, the chief of resources management for the Channel Islands National Park, said the agency had until Oct. 1 to award the $140,000 contract. But a protest filed by the MGM Land Co. of Billings, Mont., has halted the award.

Officials for the MGM Land Co. could not be reached for comment.

If the money is lost, Park Service officials will have to apply for another grant, Faulkner said.

“The bottom line is those pigs need to be removed from Santa Rosa Island because of the destruction,” Faulkner said.

At least 90% of the island has been ravaged. Pigs have dug up roots and eaten acorns--virtually stopping the reproduction of the island oaks. The pigs have also contaminated streams with their feces and preyed on native ground-nesting birds, Faulkner said.

The Park Service had planned to begin eradicating the swine in November.

“I’m worried that we are going to miss a golden opportunity,” Faulkner said.

“Because of the drought, now would have been the best time, because we would have been killing the lowest number of pigs.”

David Ashen, the deputy assistant counsel for the General Accounting Office in Washington, said the land company filed the complaint with his office last week.

Park Service officials will have until Oct. 24 to respond to the allegations, he said. Then the land company will have another 90 days to rebut the officials’ comments.