News Release

Evening Closures for Feral Hog Management

Date: July 18, 2023
Contact: Jason Johnson, 803-647-3967

HOPKINS, SC – Staff from Congaree National Park, alongside staff from USDA APHIS, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park, and Cumberland Gap National Historical Park will be conducting feral hog management work in the park July 30 through August 1.

The park will close at 4:00 p.m. the evenings of July 30, July 31, and August 1, reopening each morning at 7:00 a.m.  Frontcountry campgrounds will be closed during this time, and backcountry camping permits will not be issued. While this work is being conducted, signs will be posted in areas where active hog management work is taking place. Standard park operations will resume August 2.

An increasingly pervasive problem, feral hogs routinely cause widespread damage to both park resources and the land and water resources important to residents of local communities. More recently they have begun to cause more extensive damage to areas near the Harry Hampton Visitor Center. “The damage feral hogs continue to cause to park ecosystems makes it vital that we take advantage of every opportunity to work towards the management and reduction of the destructive impacts these invasive animals cause to park resources,” said park Superintendent Greg Hauburger.

Staff conducting this work will be using firearms, including high-powered rifles, in areas where recent hog activity is evident, which will require these areas to be closed to visitors. “It is very important that people respect area closures while this work is taking place,” said Superintendent Hauburger. "Disregarding posted closures means putting yourself and others at risk of serious injury or worse.”