The National Wildlife Refuge Association and conservation partners, Association of Zoos and Aquariums and American Bird Conservancy recently submitted a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service supporting their proposed rule to not add any additional lead to national wildlife refuge lands.

There are arguments that lead phase-outs should be purely voluntary; however, fewer than 20% of individual State websites have any easily accessed information on the dangers of lead toxicity from hunting and fishing.

We support the empowerment of sportspeople with more information but the purely voluntary approach of phasing-out lead ammunition has not yielded the necessary change required to keep refuge lands safe from lead toxicity. Rulemaking is the most viable option moving forward.

We support US Fish and Wildlife’s decision to not allow hunting with lead ammunition or fishing with lead tackle on any newly opened National Wildlife Refuge lands. We also strongly urge the National Wildlife Refuge system to phase out lead ammunition and fishing tackle on all of its lands in a swift manner.

You can read our full letter below: