The Biden administration announced on Thursday that it would move forward with a ban on equipment used by hunters in federal shelters, a move strongly opposed by sports groups.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has released the 2023-2024 Hunting and Fisheries Regulations, an annual plan that sets out regulations for the next hunting season, and has announced that by 2026, eight National Wildlife Prohibited the use of cost-effective lead bullets and fishing gear in protected areas. The move is supported by ecological groups but opposed by hunters who say it could be a backdoor attack on widespread hunting.
“This is an indication that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is punishing hunters and diverting conservation funds without sound scientific evidence that traditional lead shot sources are having a detrimental effect on wildlife populations. It’s the latest example of creating rules that threaten and promote special interests,” said senior lieutenant Lawrence Keane. President of the National Shooting Sports Foundation.
“This administration is ignoring its promise to ‘follow science.’ In fact, it is ignoring the need for scientific evidence to advance its anti-gun and anti-hunting policies,” he continued.
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Experts and sports groups have accused the Biden administration of repeatedly attacking hunters and fishermen through regulation. (Tom Brenner, Washington Post, via Getty Images)
Eight federally administered shelters (Blackwater, Maryland; Chincoteague, Virginia; Eastern Neck, Maryland; Erie, Pennsylvania; Great Thicket, Massachusetts; Patuxent, Maryland) under proposed FWS rules Thursday protected area), athletes are prohibited from using lead bullets and tackle. , Rachel Carson, Maine and Wallops Island Nation, Virginia — starting September 1, 2026.
In a statement, the FWS said it formulated the rule using “the best available science” demonstrating the adverse effects of lead equipment on human health and wildlife.
The agency’s 2022-2023 Hunting and Fishing Regulations, which were finalized in September 2022, banned only lead bullets throughout the Patoka National Wildlife Refuge in southern Indiana.
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“While the rules proposed by the Fish and Wildlife Service today call for credit for the Biden administration to ‘expand’ access to hunting and fishing on public lands, the ban on lead bullets and tackle has the opposite effect. threatens the world,” said Benjamin Cassidy, executive vice president of international government. A spokesperson for Safari Club International and a former Home Office official told Fox News Digital.
“The ban on lead bullets and tackle creates a significant cost barrier for athletes and athletes across the country and prevents Americans from hunting and fishing on our public lands,” Cassidy said.
A fisherman pictured on the Gallatin River in Bozeman, Montana. (David E. Crusoe/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images)
In 2021, a biodiversity center will be established. Influential environmental groups The group, which holds more than $40 million in assets and advocates strict federal wildlife protection, is the Trump administration’s expanded hunting and fishing acre on 2.3 million acres across 147 wildlife refuges and the National Fish Hatchery. It sued the federal government over the regulation.
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Instead of defending the rule, the Biden administration asked courts in February 2022 to delay the proceedings on the lawsuit, and in November announced that the government would “extend extensive measures to protect wildlife affected by widespread pests.” We agreed to a settlement with the organization that stipulated that we will take appropriate measures. Hunting and Fishing” is about the National Wildlife Refuge.
Under the settlement, the FWS has pledged to expand the ban on lead bullets in its annual rules for 2023-2024, a plan proposed Thursday.
Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Martha Williams said Thursday that providing hunting on federal land is a “priority in the agency’s efforts to provide wildlife-related recreation for all Americans.” . (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service)
“While we appreciate the USFWS’s commitment to increasing access to fishing for the 52 million American anglers across the country, we are horrified by the continued unwarranted and harmful restrictions on the types of gear they can use. It’s very disappointing,” said Mike Mike, vice president of government affairs for the American Sport Fishing Association. Leonard.
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“As stated in the industry position statement, limits on lead fishing gear are based on sound scientific documentation that lead fishing gear affects specific wildlife populations and are based in partnership with state fish and wildlife departments. It has to be formulated with the utmost care,” Leonard continued. “We have repeatedly asked the USFWS for that evidence, but have not yet received it.”
Hunting groups also urged Congress to expedite efforts to pass the Protecting Access to Hunters and Anglers Act introduced in April by Senator Steve Daines (R, Mont) and 22 Republicans in Congress.This law applies to the FWS, the Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management Banning lead ammunition or tackle is prohibited unless backed up by the best available science.
