Sounds like your plan would have worked nicely. I think I heard via Monbiot that wild boar had a big influence when they had a presence in UK woods, that the carpets of bluebells everybody thinks of as 'natural' in ancient woodland aren't actually what you would expect to see if they had been rooting around, creating wallows and causing other disturbance probably in a similar way to your proposed piggies.
Yes, would be interesting to see. I'm going to guess a small clearing with a glamping pod or yurt, a small stack of firewood, maybe a compost toilet and the rest more or less the same (no offense to your friend!)