Karl Puckett

kpuckett@greatfallstribune.com

Ryan Zinke’s first act on his first day as interior secretary was shooting down an order signed two months ago that banned use of lead ammunition on federal land managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Zinke’s order revoked a previous order requiring use of nontoxic ammunition and fishing tackle signed Jan. 19 by outgoing FWS Director Dan Ashe that had been criticized by some hunting and angling groups.

Zinke also signed a second order directing bureaus and agencies managing all federal land to immediately identify areas where recreation and fishing can be expanded.

Over the past eight years, Zinke said, there’s been a decrease in access to public land.

“It worries me to think about hunting and fishing becoming activities for the land-owning elite,” Zinke said in a statement. “This package of secretarial orders will expand access for outdoor enthusiasts and also make sure the community’s voice is heard.”

Zinke, a Montana Republican who resigned from Congress on Wednesday after the Senate approved his nomination by President Donald Trump as interior secretary, signed the two orders Thursday, his first day on the job.

On hand for the signing of Order No. 3346 Order No. 3347 were the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation, National Shooting Sports Foundation, Boone and Crockett Club, Wild Sheep Foundation, Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership, National Rifle Association, Safari Club International, National Wild Turkey Federation, Archery Trade Association, Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, American Recreation Council, Pheasants Forever, Ducks Unlimited, Sportsmen for Fish and Wildlife, Mule Deer Foundation, National Wildlife Federation, Wildlife Management Institute, American Sportfishing Association and National Marine Manufacturers Association.

“There really wasn’t the science to back that move,” Keith Balfourd, a spokesman for the Boone and Crockett Club, a national conservation organization based in Missoula, said of Ashe’s order.

Use of lead shot in shotguns to hunt waterfowl was banned many years ago because lead was getting into wetlands and being ingest by ducks.

That ban made sense, Balfourd said, but Ashe’s order was “federal overreach.”

The ban would have affected hunters who hunt elk and deer and upland game birds on U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service lands, he said.

The majority of bullets still are made from lead, Balfourd said. Lead bullets, he added, are more effective in bringing down game quickly, effectively and humanely than ammunition made from other types of material.

Rick Potts, the former manager of the FWS-managed Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, said lead can find its way into the ecosystem and birds of prey are vulnerable to lead uptake from secondary ingestion when they feed on carcasses of animals killed by lead bullets.

“We’ve had lead-free shot mandated for waterfowl for several decades,” Potts said. “Those of us who have made the switch don’t see any appreciable difference in the ability of that non-lead shot to kill ducks.”

FWS manages the National Wildlife Refuge System, which is comprised of 563 national wildlife refuges, 209 waterfowl production areas, and 50 wildlife coordination areas totaling 150 million acres.

That includes 1.4 million acres in Montana.

“Exposure to lead ammunition and fishing tackle has resulted in harmful effects to fish and wildlife species,” Ashe said in the Jan. 19 order. “According to the U.S. Geological Survey, lead poisoning is a toxicosis caused by the absorption of hazardous levels of lead in body tissues.”

Ashe’s order went on to say that ingested lead pellets from shotgun shells have been a common source of lead poisoning in birds. The service recognized the problem of avian exposure to lead shot used for waterfowl hunting and enacted restrictions in 1991 and hunting and waterfowl populations have thrived since.

The use of lead ammunition continues for hunting of other birds and animals including upland birds, deer and elk.

“I’m pretty certain the bureaucrat that put this regulation in place has never hunted elk in Montana,” U.S. Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., said of the lead ban on wildlife refuges overturned by Zinke’s new order. “Secretary Zinke is off to a strong start protecting Montana’s and our country’s hunting and fishing heritage.”

Ashe’s ban on lead ammunition and fishing tackle is being withdrawn because it was not mandated by any existing law or regulation, Zinke’s order says.

And it was issued without consulting the affected stakeholders, Zinke said.

The new order highlights the need for additional review and consultation with local stakeholders, Zinke said.

The orders deliver on promises by him and Trump to expand access to America’s public lands, Zinke said.

“Outdoor recreation is about both our heritage and our economy,” Zinke said. “Between hunting, fishing, motorized recreation, camping and more, the industry generates thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity.”

Follow Karl Puckett on Twitter @GFTrib_KPuckett

The two secretarial orders include

Secretarial Order No. 3346: Overturns the recent ban of lead ammunition and fish tackle used on Fish and Wildlife Service lands, waters, and facilities. The order highlights the need for additional review and consultation with local stakeholders.

Secretarial Order No. 3347: Advances conservation stewardship, improves game and habitat management, and increases outdoor recreation opportunities by directing bureaus and agencies to immediately identify areas where recreation and fishing can be expanded.