WASHINGTON—Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund, formerly called Humane Society of the United States and Humane Society Legislative Fund, issued the following statement in response to a new executive order signed by President Donald Trump directing federal agencies to expand hunting on public lands and permit the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle. The order raises serious concerns about how wildlife on public lands, which belong to all Americans, will be managed, including whether decisions will continue to prioritize science-based conservation and the health of wildlife and their habitats.
The Sept. 17 executive order directs federal agencies to expand hunting access on public lands, permit the use of lead ammunition and tackle, and increase “targeted management of predators”—a euphemism for the discredited practice of “predator control,” where wild carnivores are killed ostensibly to increase numbers of game species like deer and elk for hunters. While the order does not directly repeal the nationwide requirement for nontoxic shot in waterfowl hunting, in place since 1991, it leaves unclear what longstanding restrictions on toxic lead could be affected as agencies implement the directive.
Sara Amundson, president of Humane World Action Fund, said:
“Once again, this administration is firmly placing our nation's wildlife in the crosshairs of a minority of Americans who hunt or fish, and in this executive order it is with lead ammunition and tackle. Entire ecosystems will be subject to the toxicity lead brings to our environment. If the government acknowledged the risk and banned lead in paint for our homes and businesses, why would we sanction its use in our sensitive ecosystems? With safer, more effective alternatives available, we should be reducing wildlife's exposure to toxic lead, not creating new opportunities to spread it across the lands and waters they depend on.”
Kitty Block, president and CEO of Humane World for Animals, said:
“Right on the heels of another attack on the Endangered Species Act, this latest executive order could lead to increased hunting of beloved animals such as wolves, bears and mountain lions on public lands and the spread of toxic lead in their habitat. Public lands belong to all of us and wildlife should be protected and conserved to sustain healthy ecosystems, not to produce more targets. Americans value living wildlife and natural places. The government should listen to the American people and invest in science-based conservation that protects biodiversity, reduces lead contamination and ensures wild animals can thrive.”
Earlier this year, the U.S. House passed the Protecting Access for Hunters and Anglers Act (H.R. 556), legislation that would restrict the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture from banning or regulating the use of lead ammunition or fishing tackle on certain federal lands and waters, with specified exceptions. Humane World for Animals and Humane World Action Fund opposed the measure, arguing that it would limit federal wildlife managers’ ability to address documented lead exposure in wildlife.
