Young, Colleagues Stand with Sportsmen, Introduce Bill to Stop the Ban of Traditional Ammo & Tackle

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Todd Young (R-Ind.) and Steve Daines (R-Mont.), along with 21 additional Senate colleagues, introduced a bill to prohibit the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) from banning the use of traditional lead ammunition or tackle on public lands unless such action is supported by the best available science and state wildlife and fish agencies.

This bill also comes one week after FWS published a rule that, while expanding access to hunting and fishing at certain wildlife refuges, prohibited the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle.Last spring, FWS entered into settlement negotiations with activist organizations over a lawsuit regarding the use of traditional ammunition and lead on over 3 million acres of federal land.

Senators Young and Daines were joined by U.S. Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Shelley Moore Capito (R-W.Va.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), Mike Braun (R-Ind.), Dan Sullivan (R-Ala.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Mike Rounds (R-S.D.), Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.).

Quotes of Support:

“Both The Bass Federation and The Walleye Federation and our various chapters in 49 states fully support this proposed legislation by Senator Daines and others. History has proven there are no better stewards and supporters of fish, game, conservation and our natural resources than Anglers and Hunters we would not support anything that would endanger those resources. But we simply cannot support blanket federal bans that effect millions of acres of publicly owned resources when it is purely political overreach and there is simply no science or data to support it.” –Robert Cartlidge President and CEO, The Bass Federation and The Walleye Federation

“Sportsmen have always taken responsible leadership in addressing what is needed to protect wildlife. Now they need some protection. The Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act prohibits arbitrary restrictions on lead ammunition and tackle.  Lead, like many other elements, can exist in the environment without impacting wildlife populations, especially in the infinitesimal amount left by hunting. Research and development of non-lead ammunition is curtailed by Federal rules and therefore a limited alternative.  This bill will keep the country on a science-based path to solving documented problems with lead as they arise.” – Gray Thornton, President and CEO, Wild Sheep Foundation