Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke signs the order to overturn a federal phase-out of hunting with lead ammunition on federal lands.

Six weeks ago, just a day before Donald Trump was sworn into office, the Obama administration ordered a five-year phase-out of the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on wildlife reserves and public lands where hunting and fishing are allowed. It was a prohibition long sought by environmental advocates and opposed by hunting and fishing groups, although not by all their members. On Thursday, the day after he was sworn into office as the 52nd secretary of the Department of Interior, Ryan Zinke overturned that phase-out as his first bit of business—an omen of things to come.

Studies estimate that ingested lead from shotgun pellets and bullet fragments hunters leave behind in the environment kill from 10 million to 20 million animals each year. Jonathan Evans, environmental health legal director at the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the environmental organizations strongly behind the ammo phase-out, said:

“Switching to nontoxic ammunition should be a no-brainer to save the lives of thousands birds and other wildlife, prevent hunters and their families from being exposed to toxic lead, and protect our water. It’s ironic that one of the first actions by Secretary Zinke, who fancies himself a champion of hunters and anglers, leads to poisoning of game and waterfowl eaten by those same hunting families. It's another sad day for public health and wildlife under the Trump presidency when special interests again prevail over common-sense environmental safeguards.”

The CBD says that spent lead ammunition causes poisoning in 130 species of birds and other animals. It cites more than 500 scientific studies documenting the dangers of such lead exposure. And it notes that Zinke is no friend of wildlife, having voted as Montana’s only congressman against endangered species protections every time they came up.

But there was joy over Zinke’s action in some quarters. Timothy Cama reports: