National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

[CN Spots]

-and ammo

http://www.startribune.com/sports/outdoors/41233302.html


Priced a tungsten spinnerbait lately?

 

[bowman316]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

does lead ammo and lead sinkers really have any effect at all on wildlife?

Sure you loose lead sinkers in the water every now and then, but i don't think they put lead into the water.

 

[mthieme]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Geez. First toothpaste tubes, now this.
Steel ammo for waterfowling has been around for a while now.
They switched over here in MD probably 20+ years ago.

 

[CATransplant]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

The theory is that waterfowl eat the lead as they grub for food. I suppose that's possible, but it doesn't seem to be a really big thing, as far as I can tell.

I don't fish in national parks, but we're getting closer and closer to a lead ban here in Minnesota, statewide. I'll switch to tungsten, if I have to, I suppose, but they'll probably just ban sales of lead tackle, so I'll be good for a long, long time, since I rarely lose sinkers and don't use split shot hardly at all.

Jigheads, on the other hand, are an issue for me. I can go tungsten, but fishing with jigs in the river is a constant source of lost tackle. You're always getting hung up on some deal or another on the river. Who knows what's down there? Who even wants to know?

 

[marquette]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

as far as i know all federal lands are steel shot only for both waterfowl and small game. minnesota rumbles every year about steel shot only on state public land but it hasn't passed yet. so a total ban of lead on federal lands doesn't seem to far fetched. other than a few of the wall anti gun or hunting groups i haven't heard of any serious attempts to ban lead in single projectile firearms. at the price of lead now steel is actually becoming a viable option ecconomically.

 

[kandil]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Do not start a rumor on the same page I found this
This misunderstanding was started by a surprise press release by the National Park Service launched "It is an announcement to let the public know that the PARK SERVICE intends to go to non-lead shot in our weapons and non-lead fishing gear in the work that we do," said Barna. "It is not a requirement or regulation for our visitors. We are just announcing that as the direction we are going and we are encouraging the public to do the same." http://www.natlparks.us/national-park-service-press-release-causes-controversy/

 

[rolmops]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

So what's the big deal???
New York State has had lead free fishing and hunting for a few years now.We do not catch any less fish and bird shot without lead is not any less effective.
This sort of change is an improvement.

 

[CN Spots]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Do not start a rumor on the same page I found this
This misunderstanding was started by a surprise press release by the National Park Service launched "It is an announcement to let the public know that the PARK SERVICE intends to go to non-lead shot in our weapons and non-lead fishing gear in the work that we do," said Barna. "It is not a requirement or regulation for our visitors. We are just announcing that as the direction we are going and we are encouraging the public to do the same." http://www.natlparks.us/national-park-service-press-release-causes-controversy/

Below is the actual press release from the NPS. If it was not their intention to include everyone in this ban, they did a terrible job of conveying the information.

For Immediate Release:


March 10, 2009

Contact(s):

David Barna, 202-208-6843

Bert Frost, 202-208-3884



National Park Service Gets the Lead Out!

WASHINGTON ? National Park Service visitors and wildlife have something to cheer about today with the agency?s stepped-up efforts to reduce lead in national park environments.

?Our goal is to eliminate the use of lead ammunition and lead fishing tackle in parks by the end of 2010,? said Acting National Park Service Director Dan Wenk. ?We want to take a leadership role in removing lead from the environment.?

The new lead reduction efforts also include changes in NPS activities, such as culling operations or the dispatching of wounded or sick animals. Rangers and resource managers will use non-lead ammunition to prevent environmental contamination as well as lead poisoning of scavenger species who may eventually feed upon the carcass. Non-toxic substitutes for lead made in the United States are now widely available including tungsten, copper, and steel.

The NPS will also develop educational materials to increase awareness about the consequences of lead exposure and the benefits of using lead-free ammunition and fishing tackle.

Lead is an environmental contaminant affecting many areas of the world, including our national parks. Lead is banned in gasoline, children?s toys, and paint because of its effects on human health. In the United States, there is an accelerating trend to expand efforts to reduce lead contamination associated with firearms and hunting. California and Arizona have recently implemented mandatory and voluntary bans, respectively, on lead ammunition to facilitate California condor recovery. And Yellowstone National Park has had restrictions on lead fishing tackle for years to protect native species and their habitats.

Resource managers recognize that hunting and fishing play an important historical role in the complicated and intensive management of wildlife populations. Because of this history, these activities continue in some parks and, in some cases, even enhance the park?s primary purpose to preserve natural environments and native species. The new restrictions on lead will ensure environmentally safe practices are implemented to protect park visitors and lands.

Wenk adds, ?The reduction and eventual removal of lead on park service lands will benefit humans, wildlife, and ecosystems inside and outside park boundaries and continue our legacy of resource stewardship.?

 

[ebry710]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Do we really need lead to make trolling weights, bottom sinkers, and the like? Probably not. When I was a kid, I couldn't always afford lead weights so I used spark plugs and washers.

Split shot is the one thing I haven't seen a replacement for.

 

[Mark_VTfisherman]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Do we really need lead to make trolling weights, bottom sinkers, and the like? Probably not. When I was a kid, I couldn't always afford lead weights so I used spark plugs and washers. Split shot is the one thing I haven't seen a replacement for.

Ingestible lead is the issue. If our waters were acid enough to make water lead-toxic (by causing lead to oxidize, or basic enough to make lead dissolve or otherwise leach), there wouldn't be any fish or wildlife to protect already.

We have a law banning lead split shot and other sinkers of certain sizes in Vermont- lead in small sizes like birdshot for waterfowling and split shot for sinkers is the big issue. http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Get_the_lead_out_index.cfm
"As of January 1, 2007, it will be illegal to use a lead sinker weighing one-half ounce or less to fish in Vermont."

Lead in "carcasses?!" That's way too much of a stretch for me to intellectually accept.

"Lead is banned in gasoline, children?s toys, and paint because of its effects on human health. In the United States, there is an accelerating trend to expand efforts to reduce lead contamination associated with firearms and hunting. California and Arizona have recently implemented mandatory and voluntary bans, respectively, on lead ammunition to facilitate California condor recovery."

"gasoline, children?s toys, and paint"
because it is ingestible- paint dust, burned gasoline by-products put lead into water runoff and road side dirt, lead additives leach from plastics put in children's mouths.

Our wildlife is more threatened by the improper use of a pen by not-always-correct cause-motivated PACs than by lead ammo. I can see the argument re: lead bird shot, but the science has to support legislation, not opinions.

Rifle ammo: banning lead projectiles for hunting has not been scientifically studied sufficiently to conclude that lead ammo is an issue. With all the R&D on making projectiles that are not frangible and the decline in hunting overall, what we do today has very little impact compared to the volume of ammo (lead) expended in the 1800s and 1st half of the 1900s. I personally use Barnes X Bullets which are solid copper, so I am not anti-anything. But the lead ammo ban discussions I have heard are more politically motivated than anything. I want to know what the science says, not just a few studies and opinions.

However this is a fishing forum; banning lead in fishing lures is not the worst thing that could happen. With open-mindedness, I support the lead sinker ban. I am a sportsman- I get it.

Sorry for the rant; I feel better now.

 

[rolmops]

Re: National Park Service to ban lead fishing tackle?!

Ingestible lead is the issue. If our waters were acid enough to make water lead-toxic (by causing lead to oxidize, or basic enough to make lead dissolve or otherwise leach), there wouldn't be any fish or wildlife to protect already.

We have a law banning lead split shot and other sinkers of certain sizes in Vermont- lead in small sizes like birdshot for waterfowling and split shot for sinkers is the big issue. http://www.vtfishandwildlife.com/Get_the_lead_out_index.cfm
"As of January 1, 2007, it will be illegal to use a lead sinker weighing one-half ounce or less to fish in Vermont."

Lead in "carcasses?!" That's way too much of a stretch for me to intellectually accept.

"Lead is banned in gasoline, children?s toys, and paint because of its effects on human health. In the United States, there is an accelerating trend to expand efforts to reduce lead contamination associated with firearms and hunting. California and Arizona have recently implemented mandatory and voluntary bans, respectively, on lead ammunition to facilitate California condor recovery."

"gasoline, children?s toys, and paint"
because it is ingestible- paint dust, burned gasoline by-products put lead into water runoff and road side dirt, lead additives leach from plastics put in children's mouths.

Our wildlife is more threatened by the improper use of a pen by not-always-correct cause-motivated PACs than by lead ammo. I can see the argument re: lead bird shot, but the science has to support legislation, not opinions.

Rifle ammo: banning lead projectiles for hunting has not been scientifically studied sufficiently to conclude that lead ammo is an issue. With all the R&D on making projectiles that are not frangible and the decline in hunting overall, what we do today has very little impact compared to the volume of ammo (lead) expended in the 1800s and 1st half of the 1900s. I personally use Barnes X Bullets which are solid copper, so I am not anti-anything. But the lead ammo ban discussions I have heard are more politically motivated than anything. I want to know what the science says, not just a few studies and opinions.

However this is a fishing forum; banning lead in fishing lures is not the worst thing that could happen. With open-mindedness, I support the lead sinker ban. I am a sportsman- I get it.

Sorry for the rant; I feel better now.

Good to hear that you feel better.
In fact very thorough research has been done about the effects of lead in the food chain and also about the effects of lead used for hunting and fishing purposes.that research was done in Germany and France during the eighties.
The results supported the banning of lead for sporting purposes.Too bad that valid research that is not done in the USA is almost instantly condemned as worthless by special interest groups.Never forget that the lead industry is very powerful.