Williams News Logo
Grand Canyon News Logo

Trusted local news leader for Williams AZ and the Grand Canyon

Environmental groups sue Forest Service over lead ammunition use on Kaibab
Lawsuit pushes for ban, officials with Peregrine Fund not in favor of litigation

GRAND CANYON, Ariz. - A lawsuit filed Sept. 5 by several conservation groups alleges the U.S. Forest service is failing to protect wildlife from toxic spent lead ammunition on the Kaibab National Forest.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), Sierra Club and Grand Canyon Wildlands Council filed the suit under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, a federal law governing disposal of hazardous waste.

Jeff Miller with the CBD said the Forest Service has a duty to prevent the buildup of toxic materials and the lead poisoning of wildlife in national forests.

"There's no justification for continuing to use ammunition that poisons the food supply for birds, and for people who eat game meat, when non-lead alternatives are readily available for all hunting activities in the Kaibab National Forest," he said.

Jackie Banks, public affairs officer with the Kaibab National Forest, said due to the pending litigation, the Forest Service would decline to comment.

But, Chris Parish, director of the Peregrine Fund's condor project, said that while his organization and those that filed the lawsuit may have the same goal, reducing lead ammunition use, their methods for achieving that goal are markedly different.

According to Parish, The Peregrine Fund is currently successfully working to address lead-caused mortality in condors through educational outreach with sportsman's groups, ammunition manufacturers and retailers, and conservation groups.

"We're not talking about success in removing the problem of lead poisoning in the condors, we're talking about success in rates of participation," he said. "And those are the first signs of a transition of the shooting society changing to non-lead ammunition which is going to be key to the recovery of the condors."

As far as a lawsuit goes, Parish said he doesn't understand the logic behind such a move.

"They are attacking the very place where we have an active program," he said. "And, that just doesn't make very much sense to me."

Sandy Bahr, with the Sierra Club's Grand Canyon Chapter said due to the dangerous nature of lead to both people and wildlife even at low levels, the lawsuit is necessary.

"It is important that we take this important step to transition ammunition to less toxic alternatives and remove lead from the food chain," Bahr said. "The Forest Service should require non-lead ammunition for hunting on public land as an important step in limiting lead exposure for condors and other wildlife."

Despite the lawsuit, the environmental groups behind the litigation do concede that non-lead ammunition use is on the rise. A press release announcing the lawsuit maintains 80-90 percent of hunters on the Kaibab Forest have switched to copper ammunition.

Those numbers give Parish hope that educational efforts will continue to produce change when it comes to using lead ammunition.

"When people say nothing is being done, that's false," Parish said. "And when those who are claiming that the only true solution is to ban the use of lead ammunition, then what if your ban fails?"

The Arizona Game and Fish Department publishes a list of non-lead rifle ammunition available for big-game hunters, including more than100 bullets in various calibers produced by 14 ammunition manufacturers. Visit www.azgfd.gov/w_c/california_condor_lead.shtml for more information.

For additional information or to donate to the recovery program visit www.peregrinefund.org. Condor Cliffs is a sub-site of peregrinefund.org and also has a page on Facebook.

The recovery effort is a cooperative program by federal, state, and private partners, including the Peregrine Fund, Arizona Game and Fish Department, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Arizona Strip Field Office of the Bureau of Land Management, Grand Canyon and Zion national parks, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, and Kaibab and Dixie national forests.


Donate Report a Typo Contact