The Boar War: Michigan accused of harassing pig farmers using faulty science

A decades-long dispute between the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and several owners of pig farms broke out in colorful exchange at a Michigan House committee hearing in June. At stake in the dispute are the lives of various pigs that are deemed feral, as well as the financial interest of their owners, who make them available to customers who wish to hunt them.

The department’s 2010 invasive species order classified feral pigs, such as the Russian Boar, as invasive species and thus illegal to own. A steady stream of lawsuits followed. In 2012, Roger Turunen, a pig breeder, sued the state, as did four other farmers. Turunen sought monetary compensation, an injunction, and a declaration that the rule against his swine was unconstitutional. Courts issued various rulings on the case between Turunen and the state in 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2024.

Turunen appeared in Lansing in June to speak at a hearing of the Weaponization of State Government Subcommittee of the House Oversight Committee.

Cody Wehner, a co-owner of Superior Wildlife Adventures in Marquette, testified that agents of the Department of Natural Resources hunted at his farm to obtain pig DNA for genetic testing. The agents used clandestine tactics, he said, claiming to be ordinary citizens who didn’t want their wives to know they were hunting. The agents, he said, avoided having their pictures taken, and they paid with a money order rather than with a check or credit card.

Two years later, Wehner said, he learned that the hunters were state agents when the state named his business in a lawsuit.

Also appearing at the hearing was Dr. Barry Wehner, a veterinarian and co-owner of Superior Wildlife Adventures, a hunting area. Wehner, who has been in practice for 30 years, said the genetic test the department uses to distinguish wild pigs from domesticated ones is faulty.

“I called Zoetis, which is the animal side of Pfizer,” Wehner told the committee. He said the company told him that no genetic test can determine whether a pig is feral.

“They’re making it up. It’s not science, it’s harassment,” Wehner said of the state agency.

A genetic test is the best available tool, Ed Golder, the public information officer at the agency, told CapCon in an email.

“It is appropriate to use the best available scientific evidence when applying the state law prohibition on Russian boar and Russian boar hybrids,” Golder wrote. “Doing so reduces the risk of an animal being misclassified, ensures that species determinations are consistent, and provides greater clarity to property owners."

A member of the Legislature who is not on the committee told the assembled lawmakers that the state wants to end pig hunting. “At the end of the day what this is all about is because Roger (Turunen) prevailed, they’re going to put Roger out of business,” Rep. David Prestin, R-Cedar River, said. The department will not stop, he said, until it puts pig hunting out of business.

Prestin told the committee that agents often make decisions based on traits like ear shape, hair color, or tusk length. After the June 16 hearing he posted on Facebook that the state determined 20 out of Wehner’s 27 pigs were considered Russian Boar based on how they look. The agency did not genetically test the pigs, he said.

The natural resources department was not invited to testify, committee chair Rep. Angela Rigas, R-Alto, told Michigan Capitol Confidential.

“The DNR wasn't invited to provide ample time for the affected parties to tell their stories,” Rigas said in an email.

Courts have ruled that the pigs in question were not Russian Boar, which are the invasive, illegal pigs, Rep. Jason Woolford, R-Howell, told CapCon. Wooford sits on the committee that held the June 11 meeting.

“Yet the DNR appears to continue with the harassment of Cody Wehner, owner of Superior Game Ranch, who was just inspected by the DNR, ironically, after testifying before our committee,” Wooford said.