Lead ammunition and lead tackle deposits — well, lead all over the place.
A decade ago the Fish & Wildlife Service, under George W. Bush (a hunter himself), banned the use of lead shot in waterfowl hunting. Following up on that, in 2014, the Dept of the Interior initiated the phasing out of lead ammunition and lead weights on fishing lines in national wildlife refuges and other managed lands.
And, as his first official act, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke has reversed that directive.
'Hunters and anglers deposit tens of thousands of tons of lead in our environment, and it is estimated that between 10 and 20 million birds and other animals—including more than 130 species—die each year from lead poisoning. That’s a staggering toll, and an entirely preventable one, given our ability to manufacture better ammunition.
Scientists have called lead ammunition the “greatest, largely unregulated source of lead knowingly discharged into the environment in the United States.” Since it breaks into fragments upon impact, lead inevitably makes its way into the food chain as animals feed off carcasses left in the field by hunters. News stories continually emerge, including recently in Oregon and Pennsylvania, of dedicated, self-sacrificing wildlife rehabilitators struggling to treat predatory birds—including our own national symbol, the bald eagle—for acute lead poisoning. Hunting families are at risk too, since the meat from animals shot and cooked for the table can contain tiny lead shards. Children are especially vulnerable and even low levels of lead in their bodies can adversely impact their health for life.
Lead alternatives are readily available, and comparably priced copper and steel ammunition outperform lead and do not keep killing days, weeks, and months after leaving the gun. Ten years after the FWS required the use of non-lead shot for the hunting of waterfowl nationwide, researchers found significant improvements in the blood and bone lead levels in a variety of waterfowl species. The use of nontoxic shot reduced the mortality of mallards by 64 percent, and saved approximately 1.4 million ducks in a single fall flight.'
But, hey, the NRA, et al., didn't like it so "the lead must flow."
A great start to managing the Interior, Mr Zinke.
Huh. I managed to not link to the actual article: http://blog.humanesociety.org/wayne/2017/03/trumps-interior-secretary-reverses-ban-lead-ammo-national-wildlife-refuges-first-official-act.html