News Release

Feral Hog Management to Occur During Fireflies Closure

Date: May 10, 2023
Contact: Jon Manchester, 803-647-3964

HOPKINS, SC – Staff from Congaree National Park, alongside staff from USDA APHIS, Fort Sumter and Fort Moultrie National Historical Park and Cumberland Gap NHP, will be conducting feral hog management work in the park over the next two weeks. This work will occur during the resource management closure already in place during the active period of the synchronized fireflies from May 7-27, 2023.

On the nights of May 17-18 and May 25-26 the primary focus area for this work will be around the Harry Hampton Visitor Center and Boardwalk Trail. These specific dates are non-event nights, and the work will not impact those visitors with passes to view the synchronous fireflies. This year’s viewing will take place on the evenings of May 13-16 and 19-24. Staff will also conduct hog management operations in more remote areas of the park on other evenings. Backcountry camping permits are not being issued at this time. While this work is being conducted, signs will be posted in areas where active hog management work is taking place.

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, including around and within areas where synchronous fireflies have been observed to be present. “The damage feral hogs continue to cause to park ecosystems, including areas where synchronous fireflies are active, 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 Hauberger.

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 Hauberger. “While we understand the desire of people to see the fireflies, disregarding posted closures means putting yourself and others at risk of serious injury or worse.”