Daylife/AP Photo by Billy Higinbotham

Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack has a problem with hungry hogs. Houston has a problem with hungry people. If Radack gets his way, hundreds of pounds of pork soon could be hitting the needy’s tables.

Radack plans to allow a few select bowhunters to begin targeting the thousands of feral pigs that live in George Bush Park and hopes to donate the meat to food banks, churches, homeless shelters or even needy individuals.

“If you could harness this, it could feed so many people it’s unbelievable,” Radack said…

Off-duty county employees have been allowed to trap hogs at the park for more than a decade, and they typically remove about 300 to 400 every year, McMahan said. The trappers are responsible for removing the hogs and have been allowed to keep the meat.

Radack estimated there are between 10,000 and 15,000 hogs living in the park…The 7,800-acre park is part of the Barker Reservoir, which the federal government created in the 1940s to control flooding. Floods within the park typically help curb the hog population, but dry weather in recent years has allowed the herd to grow unabated.

Sounds like such a useful project that I’ll skip the jokes about Texas politicians.