U.S. SENATE – U.S. Senator Steve Daines today introduced a bill to prohibit the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) from banning the use of lead ammunition or tackle on public lands unless such action is supported by the best available science.
“The great outdoors is a staple of our Montana way of life. Montana hunters and anglers play an important role in wildlife management, and a ban on lead ammo and tackle would be unfair to our sportsmen. I’ll keep fighting with my colleagues to make sure decisions impacting outdoor recreation are guided by commonsense science, not anti-hunting groups,” said Daines.
Senators John Thune (R-S.D.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska.), Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Mike Crapo (R-Idaho), Jim Risch (R-Idaho), Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), John Barrasso (R-Wyo.), Rick Scott (R-Fla.), James Lankford (R-Okla.), Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.), Mike Lee (R-Utah), John Boozman (R-Ark.), Roger Marshall (R-Kan.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), Mike Rounds (R- S.D.), Katie Britt (R-Ala.), Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.), Tom Cotton (R-Ark.), Jim Justice (R-W.V.), Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), John Hoeven (R-N.D.), and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) joined Daines in introducing the bill.
Read the bill text HERE.
Background:
In 2022, FWS entered into settlement negotiations with activist organizations over a lawsuit regarding the use of traditional ammunition and tackle on over three million acres of federal land. Daines led a group of his colleagues in urging FWS Director Martha Williams not to cave in to activists’ calls to restrict the use of lead ammo and tackle on public lands. Daines has led this bill in the 118th and 117th Congress.
Additionally, Daines sent a letter on a recently released U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service draft Comprehensive Conservation Plan and Environmental Assessment for the Charles M. Russell Wetland Management District that includes an alternative that would ban lead ammunition and tackle across the District. Read the letter HERE.
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Contact: Matt Lloyd, Rachel Dumke