GROUPS STEP UP CALL FOR LEAD AMMUNITION BAN TO HELP CONDORS

Photos: 1 | 2 (thumbnails, captions below)

By SONU MUNSHI
Cronkite News Service

PHOENIX (Thursday, Oct. 25) _ Wildlife advocates say a new California law barring hunters from using lead ammunition in the California condor’s range should prompt Arizona to issue its own ban.

Four groups that asked the Arizona Game and Fish Commission for a ban earlier this year are pressing for a response now that California’s law is on the books.

“We’re certainly looking at Arizona now,” said Jeff Miller, conservation advocate with the Center for Biological Diversity. “It’s the next step in our campaign.”

While there has been no answer from Game and Fish, one official says the commission doesn’t plan to respond. Instead, it will continue providing coupons for lead-free ammunition to those hunting in condor territory and educating hunters that lead ammunition can poison condors that eat big game entrails left by hunters.

“The commission is not willing to entertain any options on regulating use of ammunition unless we’ve exhausted all other mechanisms,” said Bob Broscheid, assistant director of the state Game and Fish Department’s wildlife management division.

The Grand Canyon Wildlands Council, Sierra Club and Arizona Zoological Society also signed the letter, which urged the commission to require hunters to use non-lead ammunition across Arizona.

Sandy Bahr, conservation outreach director with the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon chapter, said the groups are considering formally petitioning the commission, which would force a response, if they hear nothing by early November. They also will consider litigation, she said.

“We may not get the response we want, but at least from there on we’ll discuss what else to do,” Bahr said.

In 1982, only 22 California condors remained in existence. Captive breeding programs have brought their numbers to more than 300, including 59 in Arizona.

In California, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently signed legislation requiring non-lead ammunition for hunting big game and coyotes in the condor’s range.

A key issue in Arizona is how far state officials should have to go to protect condors from lead. The groups contend the state must take stricter action, but Broscheid notes that unlike California’s reintroduction program Arizona’s program is considered experimental under the Endangered Species Act, meaning the state can act to make sure land uses such as hunting aren’t affected.

Since 2005, Game and Fish has provided coupons for free non-lead ammunition to hunters with tags for big game on the Kaibab and Paria plateaus in northern Arizona. Officials also have distributed a DVD explaining the dangers of lead.

Despite these steps, according to the Peregrine Fund, an Idaho-based nonprofit group that teams with Game and Fish on recovery efforts, field tests last fall showed that 95 percent of Arizona’s condors had been exposed to lead and 70 percent required treatment. At least 12 California condors in Arizona have died of lead poisoning since the species was reintroduced to northern Arizona in 1996, according to Game and Fish.

Bahr said the groups would prefer that Game and Fish take action rather than forcing the groups to push for legislation, which was the case in California.

“You have to have the leadership to understand and support such a bill,” Bahr said. “This legislature is not a place where they’re stepping up to pass environmentally friendly laws.”

Broscheid said Game and Fish will continue improving the voluntary program.

“A lot needs to be done, but it’s not going to be conquered in one day,” Broscheid said. “There are a lot of entities involved here and we need to keep those people at the table.”

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Web Links:
_ Arizona Game and Fish Department: www.azgfd.gov
_ U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: www.fws.gov

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PHOTOS: Click thumbnails to see full-resolution images and download

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CONDORS-LEAD: A California condor is shown at the South Rim in Grand Canyon National Park in this undated photo from the National Park Service. Several wildlife groups want Arizona to ban lead ammunition to help protect the condors, which can pick up the toxic metal from piles of animal entrails left in the wilderness by hunters. They are pressing the effort now that California has enacted a law against the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game and coyotes in the condors’ range. (Photo Credit: Mark Lellouch, National Park Service, via Cronkite News Service)

CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-CONDORS-LEAD: California condor No. 350 is shown in 2004 after it fledged at Grand Canyon National Park. Several wildlife groups want Arizona to ban lead ammunition to help protect the condors, which can pick up the toxic metal from piles of animal entrails left in the wilderness by hunters. They are pressing the effort now that California has enacted a law against the use of lead ammunition for hunting big game and coyotes in the condors’ range. (Photo Credit: Chad Olson, National Park Service, via Cronkite News Service)