Top Interior Department officials are being urged to ban lead ammo and fishing tackle in the National Park System because of the toll it takes on human health, the environment, and non-game wildlife/NPS file

The ongoing use of lead shot and fishing tackle in the National Park System is a threat to human health, the environment, and non-game wildlife and should be banned, the Interior Department's assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks has been told by the Coalition to Protect America's National Parks.

Three years ago lead poisoning, most likely acquired from eating carrion left behind by hunters, killed a golden eagle whose carcass was found in Yellowstone National Park just months after she had been fitted with a radio transmitter. Back in 2018, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service noted that lead shot is the biggest roadblock in the effort to fully recover California condors in the Southwest.

Although targeted voluntary efforts to reduce the use of lead ammunition in California condor range has reduced the amount of available lead seasonally, further efforts to reduce the greater lead load available to scavenging birds on a year-round cycle are crucial for program success and a healthier ecosystem.

While the Obama administration banned lead shot and lead fishing tackle, then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke during the Trump administration overturned that ban on his first day in office, saying that it "was issued without significant communication, consultation or coordination with affected stakeholders."

Last week the Coalition wrote Shannon Estenoz, the assistant secretary for Fish and Wildlife and Parks, urging the "NPS and the Department to address the ongoing use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle within numerous units of the National Park System. We call your attention to recent U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 'station specific' hunting and sport fishing regulations that begin to phase out the recreational use of 'lead' on National Wildlife Refuges across the country. In these regulations, the Biden Administration lays the groundwork for additional prohibitions on lead ammunition and fishing tackle, which we believe should include our nation’s most protected landscapes in the units of the National Park System where hunting and fishing occur."

"Our request is that you and NPS Director [Chuck] Sams fully consider implementing a ban on the sale and the use of lead-based ammunition and fishing tackle in all national park units. The adverse impacts of lead poisoning on wildlife and their habitats have been known for decades and are well documented," said the letter (attached below) from Mike Murray, chair of the Coalition. "For example, a recent U.S. Geological Survey study found that nearly half of all bald and golden eagles in the country suffer from chronic and/or acute lead poisoning, likely the result of these birds scavenging the remains of animals shot with lead bullets. In addition, there are numerous other peer-reviewed scientific studies, worldwide, documenting the adverse impacts of lead on avifauna, herpetofauna, mammals from grizzly bear to small rodents, as well as to the environment on our lands and in our waters."

In closing, Murray noted the Park Service's conservation mission and wrote that, "[A]s one of the world’s most respected conservation agencies, the NPS should set the example and implement the most effective wildlife protection measures available, which in this case means 'Get the lead out of parks!'"