The Designation

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La Salle County as the Wild Hog Capital of Texas by the state legislature took a step closer to realization this week with a special resolution signed by the county judge and commissioners and supported by District 31 State Rep. Ryan Guillen. The effort to secure the ten-year designation was facilitated by Kris Ede at the Texas Farm Bureau Field Operations Division and drafted in large part by the La Salle County Fair Association, who demonstrated that La Salle has met all the title criteria that include having a related festival for at least 25 years (the annual Cotulla Wild Hog Cook-Off has been held for more than 40 years). According to the resolution signed Monday, April 7, the county has long been renowned for its association with wild hogs, which are an invasive species descended from domesticated pigs that were released into the wild by early European settlers in South Texas and which are now avidly hunted for food and to reduce the adverse impact on agriculture. The wild hog population in Texas is now estimated at more than three million, and wild hog control through hunting has become a significant part of the region’s economy and culture, according to the judge and commissioners. The annual cook-off held on the second weekend in March attracts tourists and fairgoers from across the region as well as from across Texas and other states and is regarded as one of the principal contributors to the local economy, with county fair attendance reaching at least 10,000 on a single day over the four-day period. Present Monday to herald the designation for La Salle were (L-R) Comms. Raul Ayala and Erasmo Ramirez, County Judge Leodoro Martinez III, Fair Association Board members Cissy Allen, Kevin ‘Hornet’ Coleman – President, Minerva Rios, Homar Olivarez, Rosario Morales, and Comms. Jack Alba and Noel Niavez. The county and fair association expect to hear confirmation of the state’s approval of the designation after the resolution is brought to the Texas House floor. (CURRENT Photo: Marc Robertson)