Parks to ban lead bullets, tackle

The National Park Service has set a goal of eliminating lead from fishing and hunting gear by 2010. Acting Park Service director Dan Wenk announced the goal Wednesday in Washington. Fragments of lead bullets are suspected to contaminate scavenger birds, like ravens and eagles, and lead used as fishing weights could poison waterfowl and other species. Lead is a toxin and studies — some from Jackson Hole — have associated bullet fragments with increased lead in the blood of predatory and scavenging birds. California and Arizona have recently implemented mandatory and voluntary bans, respectively, on lead ammunition to help California condor recovery, Wenk said. A firearms group was quick to condemn the action. “The National Park Service’s decision is arbitrary, over-reactive and not based on science,” Steve Sanetti, president of the National Shooting Sports Foundation, said in a statement. His group is a trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry. “Studies show that traditional ammunition does not pose a health risk to humans, or wildlife populations as a whole,” he said. The Park Service is grappling with another firearms issue — whether to allow parks visitors to carry concealed weapons as allowed by permit elsewhere. While the Bush administration implemented new rules allowing concealed weapons, the Obama team is reviewing those in a growing skirmish pitting Second Amendment advocates against conservationists...Jackson Hole Daily Guide