U.S. Rep. Rob Wittman and Rep. Bruce Westerman, the House Natural Resources Ranking Member, have introduced a bill in the House of Representatives that protects sportsmen’s access and ability to hunt and fish on national wildlife refuges. The “Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act of 2022” prohibits the Secretary of the Interior or the Secretary of Agriculture from banning the use of lead ammunition or fishing tackle on federal lands and waters.
The bill includes an exception that would allow for the regulation of lead ammo or tackle, but only if the respective secretary can prove with specific science that lead ammo or tackle is causing a decline in a wildlife population and the regulations are consistent with state law.
“The Sportsmen’s Alliance thanks Rep. Wittman and Rep. Westerman for protecting America’s largest contributors to conservation. The American sportsman has underwritten the vast majority of funding for the National Wildlife Refuge System since its inception, and has spearheaded conservation initiatives for more than a century,” said Todd Adkins, vice president of government affairs at Sportsmen’s Alliance. “We look forward working with both representatives and Sen. Daines in the Senate to push this legislation through both chambers.”
Last week, Sen. Daines introduced an identical bill in the Senate. Both bills block the newly implemented, and arbitrary, “2022-2023 Station-Specific Hunting and Sport Fishing Regulations” that phases out the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on many refuges. While the bills prohibit the respective secretaries from banning the use of lead on federal lands, they do provide for regulation of it if there’s scientific evidence that lead ammo or fishing tackle is causing a decline in wildlife populations specific to refuges at hand. The bills also require that any regulation doing so is consistent with state laws where the refuge is located.
The final lead-ban rule implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) comes on the heels of ongoing settlement negotiations between the agency and the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), a lawsuit that includes a dispute over the use of lead ammunition on refuges. Both FWS and CBD have identified the importance of the new lead-ban rule in their negotiations, but it remains to be seen what that final settlement will include. The Sportsmen’s Alliance was among the first to alert sportsmen that the two parties had announced agreement on “key terms” earlier this summer, but neither party in the lawsuit have divulged those terms.
“We know that CBD wants a lead ammunition ban everywhere as part of their overall strategy to undermine our nation’s sportsmen and women,” added Adkins. “We will continue to fight to ensure the rulemaking process – by FWS or any agency – isn’t corrupted and becomes just another tool for animal extremists to use in their quest to destroy America’s hunters, trappers and anglers.”
About the Sportsmen’s Alliance: The Sportsmen’s Alliance protects and defends America’s wildlife conservation programs and the pursuits – hunting, fishing and trapping – that generate the money to pay for them. Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation is responsible for public education, legal defense and research. Its mission is accomplished through several distinct programs coordinated to provide the most complete defense capability possible. Stay connected to Sportsmen’s Alliance: Online, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.