September in the Lone Star State means the return of Big Tex and the State Fair of Texas, football and, this year, the enactment of nearly 1,500 new laws passed by Texas lawmakers in the last session. Some of us at Androvett Legal Media & Marketing have compiled our top 10 new laws that take effect in Texas on Sept. 1, with comments from lawyers with expertise in these areas.  And so begins our countdown to Number 1.

Coming in at Number 10 is what our lawmakers affectionately dubbed the Pork Chopper (HB716), which will allow Texas landowners to rustle up hunters willing to pay for the opportunity to shoot feral hogs and coyotes by helicopter. The law allows property owners to "lease" helicopter seats for hog and coyote hunts. As Texas Monthly reports in its August edition, "With a population now exceeding 2.6 million, feral hogs in Texas have hit critical mass. Females can have up to two litters a year, with an average of five to six piglets each, and they are outbreeding deer, humans and every other large mammal in the state...they roam in packs, long-toothed and short-tempered, willing to eat nearly anything, including their young."

Curtis L. Frisbie Jr., an antitrust and commercial litigation lawyer at Gardere Wynne Sewell, calls the law a positive step. “I am very much in favor of helicopter shooting of feral hogs,” says , and an avid hunter. “They are a pest and a menace, and cause a lot of property damage. Ask any Texas rancher. The National Rifle Association says that feral hogs cause an estimated $400 million in damages in Texas every year. Texas has the largest population of feral hogs in the US.  It is estimated by some that there are 4 million feral hogs in U.S. That number will only increase.”