On January 19th, with less than a day in office, the Obama administration banned the use of lead in ammo and fishing tackle on federal lands. The move came without notice and stunned the hunting and fishing world.
What’s more, the radical, last-second order did not ask for input from “stakeholders” or anyone else prior to implementation. Instead, it looked a lot like more of the same regulatory overreach we saw regularly under Obama.
Secretary Ryan Zinke, the guy who rode a horse to his first day of work, brought that onerous stunt from the Obama regime to an abrupt end.
On his first day in office, President Trump’s new Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke reversed the Obama ban on lead ammo. The move comes as a welcome relief to the hunting and fishing communities.
Of course, the bird- and tree-hugging faction are crying like Chicken Little. They say the order reversing the Obama scheme to ban lead ammo and fishing tackle “could” result in millions of dead birds and sick families. Yeah, it could result in global warming, ozone depletion and nuclear winter too. The Hill has more:
[Former Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan] Ashe’s policy banned the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on all FWS wildlife refuges that allow hunting or fishing, as well as in all other hunting or fishing regulated by the agency elsewhere.
It was meant to help prevent plants and animals from being poisoned by lead left on the ground or in the water.
“After reviewing the order and the process by which it was promulgated, I have determined that the order is not mandated by any existing statutory or regulatory requirement and was issued without significant communication, consultation or coordination with affected stakeholders,” Zinke wrote in his order.
Zinke also signed an order Thursday asking agencies within his purview to find ways to increase access to outdoor recreation on the lands they oversee.
“It worries me to think about hunting and fishing becoming activities for the land-owning elite,” he said in a statement. “This package of secretarial orders will expand access for outdoor enthusiasts and also make sure the community’s voice is heard.”
Gun rights advocates, sportsmen’s groups, conservatives and state wildlife agencies were united against the lead ban.
The Trump Administration continues work to unwind the Obama administration’s gun control agenda, slowly but surely. Watch this space.