Letter: Lead ammunition vs. California condor

Conservationists are going too far, trying to ban the use of lead ammunition in California to help preserve the endangered California condor. The topic arose because the lead fragments are left in the gut piles that condors feed on. Conservationists state that 10 condors have been found dead from lead poisoning and 30 have needed expensive medical treatment to remove lead from the blood. The problem with the proposed law is that it is a blanket mandate covering all of California, despite the fact that the California condor's range of habitat only extends from just south of San Jose to just north of Los Angeles.

The proposed law to ban the use of lead ammunition could cause more problems for the conservation efforts for condors. For example, the use of nonlead ammunition will likely lead to a rise in injured animals escaping because a steel bullet holds its form and goes cleanly through the animal. Chuck Michel, senior counsel for the California Rifle and Pistol Association, the NRA's local affiliate, recently stated, "My clients are concerned about the ballistic performance of nonlead ammunition and the increased environmental impact of non-lead bullets." One environmental impact of nonlead bullets will be a rise in predators, causing increased food competition for the California condor.

Californians should know that regulations can be passed to require hunters to bury animal remains. This would protect the condor from lead contamination, and allow lead ammunition to remain legal.

Trevor Turk

Yuba City