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Collegiate FFA members at UA Cossatot recently completed a Day of Service Mini-Grant through the National FFA’s Living to Serve program during National FFA Week. Hadley Philamlee, an agriculture business major and Collegiate FFA president, developed the project with Paul Gideon at Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge. The grant allowed students to purchase $400 worth of tools and materials to build hog traps and place them on the refuge to help reduce the feral swine population.
Feral swine are an invasive species that have a negative impact on the hardwood wetland ecosystem at Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge and cause significant damage to surrounding agricultural lands. Studies show at least 66% of a hog population must be removed each year to prevent it from growing. The Arkansas Game and Fish Commission recognizes large-scale trapping as the most efficient and economical means currently available to reduce feral hog populations.
On Thursday, February 21st, agriculture students Hadley Philamlee, Cody Chandler, Dusty Kesterson, and Peyton Frachiseur spent the day working with Kelli Harris, their agriculture instructor at UA Cossatot, and Charlie Marshall, an employee at Pond Creek National Wildlife Refuge, to complete the project. Students will
be tracking data with Pond Creek to determine how many feral swine are removed from the refuge with the placement of additional traps.
