State Reps. Ken Borton (R-Gaylord), Dave Martin (R-Davison), Dave Prestin (R-Cedar River), and Angela Rigas (R-Caledonia) on Tuesday applauded the House Oversight Committee for taking steps to address alarming reports of weaponization and abuse of power by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources. The House Oversight Committee moved to allow Chairman Jay DeBoyer (R-Clay Township) to issue two subpoenas seeking documents related to the DNR’s efforts to kill Canada geese for population control and its years-long enforcement campaign against pig farmers and game ranches.

The subpoenas follow requests from members of the House Oversight Committee, including Rigas, for documents from the DNR, having only received stalling tactics as a response. Rigas said that when she asked for documents, the department responded by saying they would take nearly seven months to collect.

“For over a decade, a taxpayer-funded department has been waging war against honest pig farmers and game ranchers,” said Rigas, who chairs the House Oversight Weaponization of State Government Subcommittee. “These environmentalist cronies have government salaries paid for by the folks they’re trying to fine into non-existence. The public deserves to know how their dollars are being spent, especially when those dollars are used as a weapon against our friends and neighbors.”

“We need the department to spell out exactly how these clear abuses of power happened so we can ensure they never happen again,” Martin said. “We asked the DNR to be transparent and hand over documents related to how these decisions were made. While I’m certain these were attempts to weaponize state government, if the DNR actually believes they made the right call, there shouldn’t be anything to hide. Instead, the DNR has blocked us at every turn. They were not willing to act as a partner with the Legislature to improve their department and its interactions with the public. These subpoenas will ensure the public has the answers it needs to finally secure a lasting change within the DNR.”

A House Oversight subcommittee recently heard testimony from multiple witnesses regarding the DNR’s controversial Invasive Species Order and its enforcement against pig farmers and game ranch owners. A presentation revealed that the number of pig ranches in Michigan has gone from 75 to five since the DNR’s order went into effect in 2012.

“The DNR’s ridiculous Invasive Species Order labels heritage breed hogs as dangerous ‘wild Russian boar’ that must be exterminated,” Prestin said. “DNR is embracing junk science. You don’t judge a hog by its looks or how floppy its ears are; you judge it by genetics. The hogs used by our area game ranches are recognized heritage breeds just like the ones my daughter raises and takes to fair.”

Testimony disclosed that the DNR has been using deception and undercover enforcement agents to infiltrate farms and kill pigs on hunts instead of simply working with owners to address a concern the department may have had about an animal. Some farmers have been forced to slaughter all or the majority of their pigs under order from the DNR if it was determined their pig breeds looked similar to what the department is loosely labeling a “Russian boar,” which has no concrete definition. In addition, some pigs that have been killed under these orders have been sows and don’t fall under the classification of any sort of boar.

“I feel for the people that have been forced to watch as the DNR uses their tax dollars to destroy the livelihoods of honest farmers and outdoorsmen,” Borton said. “The DNR is supposed to be operating in good faith as stewards of our natural resources. Instead, they’re trying to hike license fees, clear-cut forests, and harass the very people who fund their paychecks. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: If they continue down this path, they won’t have a dollar left for anything.”

The subpoenas – which follow months of ignored attempts to get documents from the DNR – would also be for information on the DNR’s euthanasia program for Canada geese, which it paused this spring amid massive public outcry. Officials said they pursued the plans to address human-goose interactions and what they view as overbearing goose populations. The lawmakers said the decision to exterminate large numbers of geese seemed out of character for the DNR, and they hoped to get more information as to how the decision was made through the subpoena.