Advocacy groups representing current and former federal employees are urging Colorado to launch a phased-in ban of lead-based hunting ammo.
Lead bullets shatter upon impact, leaving tiny fragments in animal carcasses that scavengers feed on. Lead poisoning is the leading cause of death for critically endangered California condors, which also live in the canyonlands of northern Arizona and southern Utah.
“I've held the condor in my arms and watched it die and shake and tremor from lead poisoning, not even being able to hold their head or their wings up,” said Elaine T. Leslie, a former chief of biological resources for the National Park Service. “It’s a horrible death.”
Leslie now serves on the executive council of the Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks. Along with the nonprofit Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, the group is asking Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) to phase out lead ammo and fishing tackle on state lands. In a letter to agency officials, they warned that lead also poses a risk to people who eat hunted meat.
The push comes as CPW prepares to finalize its 10-year State Wildlife Action Plan in September. A CPW spokesperson said the plan includes continuing hunter outreach and incentives for non-lead options but isn’t meant to introduce new rules.
California is the only state to fully ban lead ammunition, starting in 2019. But the advocacy groups have raised the issue recently in other states, including Maryland, where the legislature considered bills this year that ultimately failed.
Proposals for national bans have repeatedly stalled or been overturned, though lead shot has been outlawed for waterfowl hunting since 1991. On the final day of the Obama Administration, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced lead ammo would be banned on federal lands five years later. But on his first day serving as Interior Secretary in the first Trump Administration, Ryan Zinke ordered the ban reversed.
Gun rights and hunting groups argue non-hunters push these bans as a first step to restricting hunting more widely. They also say alternatives like copper bullets are more expensive and harder to find.
Amid the back-and-forth, some conservation and hunting groups have turned to voluntary programs instead, and argue these methods are more effective in convincing hunters to make the switch.
In 2023, the Colorado legislature passed a law establishing a pilot program that included range demonstrations comparing lead and copper ammo and a survey of hunter sentiments planned for this fall. A state website assures hunters that lead-free options are comparable in price and available.
Other states offer monetary incentives. In southern Utah, hunters can receive coupons for non-lead ammunition, while in Arizona, those who remove gut piles are entered into prize drawings. Since 2008, 80% of hunters in areas where condors live have either used lead-free ammo or cleaned up remains, according to Arizona wildlife officials.
Still, Leslie believes voluntary efforts haven’t made a substantial dent in the proliferation of lead ammunition.
“This has been going on since the mid-90s and we’re not there. We might not even be getting any closer – and that’s disheartening,” she said.
She sees phased bans and state-by-state action, paired with education and incentives, as the best path forward.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
