Congressmen To Trump: Rescind Lead Ban

Lead ban on federal lands issued on last day of Obama administration

The National Shooting Sports Foundation reports their work with U.S. Rep. Jason Smith (R-Mo.) has resulted in 60 House members sending a bipartisan letter to President Trump requesting U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director’s Order No. 219 to ban use of traditional lead component ammunition and fishing tackle on Service lands be rescinded.

Dan Ashe, the outgoing Service Director, issued Order No. 219 on the final full day of President Obama’s administration. The last-minute action revived an effort that administration undertook eight years ago to ban the use of traditional ammunition. The order required several initiatives to go into effect immediately. Regional Directors are to work with state agencies to ban the use of traditional ammunition. It also ends the use of traditional ammunition on Federal land, including National Parks, tribal lands and national wildlife refuges.

The order “expeditiously” bans traditional ammunition “when available information indicates” that lead is harmful to wildlife, without requirement of a scientific threshold on which to base that action. It also requires creation of a timeline to restrict traditional ammunition for dove and upland bird hunting.