Post by osprey on Mar 8, 2007 9:14:50 GMT -5
Off today's Outdoor Wire...
And in California, the Fish and Game Commission is getting ready to consider banning lead bullets for hunting. When the Commission meets on April 13, it will begin the amendment of 2007-2010 hunting regulations with an eye to banning lead bullets, ostensibly to preserve the California condor.
A wild card in the process is the recent death of Commission president Robert Hattoy, one of the prime supporters of the proposal.
The commission is considering four action alternatives related to lead-containing bullets: take no action, ban the ammunition in specific deer-hunting areas, ban it statewide, or offer hunters incentives to voluntarily use nonleaded ammunition while hunting deer, elk, wild pigs and other large animals.
The specific hunting areas proposed include most of those west of the Sierra Nevada -- areas A, D9, D10 and D11 on Fish and Game maps. The ban would include bullets from centerfire ammunition, muzzleloading balls, shotgun slugs and buckshot used for taking both game and non-game animals. Rimfire .22 caliber ammo would not be included in the proposed ban.
The California condor was first declared endangered in 1967. In 1987, the last 22 wild condors were trapped and taken to zoos for a breeding program that has brought the condor population to nearly 300.
Scientists say that lead bullets and fragments in carcasses eaten by condors present a major lead poisoning threat.
And in California, the Fish and Game Commission is getting ready to consider banning lead bullets for hunting. When the Commission meets on April 13, it will begin the amendment of 2007-2010 hunting regulations with an eye to banning lead bullets, ostensibly to preserve the California condor.
A wild card in the process is the recent death of Commission president Robert Hattoy, one of the prime supporters of the proposal.
The commission is considering four action alternatives related to lead-containing bullets: take no action, ban the ammunition in specific deer-hunting areas, ban it statewide, or offer hunters incentives to voluntarily use nonleaded ammunition while hunting deer, elk, wild pigs and other large animals.
The specific hunting areas proposed include most of those west of the Sierra Nevada -- areas A, D9, D10 and D11 on Fish and Game maps. The ban would include bullets from centerfire ammunition, muzzleloading balls, shotgun slugs and buckshot used for taking both game and non-game animals. Rimfire .22 caliber ammo would not be included in the proposed ban.
The California condor was first declared endangered in 1967. In 1987, the last 22 wild condors were trapped and taken to zoos for a breeding program that has brought the condor population to nearly 300.
Scientists say that lead bullets and fragments in carcasses eaten by condors present a major lead poisoning threat.
