The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today announced it is implementing a pilot program at seven National Wildlife Refuges during the Fall 2024 hunting season to test voluntary, incentive-based efforts to increase the use of lead-free ammunition by hunters on Service-administered lands. The best available science indicates lead ammunition and fishing tackle can have negative impacts on wildlife.
The Service developed the pilot program working with the Hunting and Wildlife Conservation Council, a federal advisory committee established by the Secretaries of the Department of the Interior and the Department of Agriculture, and state, non-governmental and industry partners. In December 2023, the HWCC recommended federal agencies pursue wildlife management approaches that encourage hunters to voluntarily switch from using lead ammunition to using lead-free ammunition as a non-regulatory means of addressing lead poisoning in wildlife on federal lands.
“The Service is committed to providing access to National Wildlife Refuges and also to minimizing the impacts to wildlife from lead exposure,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “This pilot program and the lessons learned will be critically important in determining our best approach to managing lead use by outdoor recreationists on refuge lands and waters.”
The Service, in collaboration with the HWCC and with the respective state wildlife agencies, has identified the following sites to pilot voluntary, incentive-based lead-free hunting opportunities for Fall 2024:
- Patoka River NWR in Indiana – Deer hunting
- Blackwater NWR in Maryland – Deer hunting
- Wallkill River NWR in New Jersey – Hunting for all species
- Pocosin Lakes NWR in North Carolina – Deer hunting
- William L. Finley NWR in Oregon – Elk hunting
- Canaan Valley NWR in West Virginia – Hunting for all species
- Trempealeau NWR in Wisconsin – Deer hunting
The Service will implement a rebate program in each of these refuges for hunters who voluntarily choose to use lead-free ammunition. This includes prepaid credit cards for reimbursement of the cost of lead-free ammunition with proof of purchase and other refuge specific economic incentives. The Service will share refuge specific details as they are finalized. Additionally, a monitoring component will seek to determine program impacts so more effective models for incentivizing the voluntary use of lead-free ammunition can be replicated to guide actions by the Service and other land and wildlife managers in addressing lead poisoning in wildlife. Similar efforts to promote the voluntary use of non-lead ammunition have been previously undertaken by conservation groups in collaboration with the states of Arizona, Utah and Oregon and other sporting groups.
The Service is engaged in a deliberate, transparent process of evaluating the future of lead use on Service lands and waters, working with state partners and seeking input from other stakeholders, including the HWCC, and the public.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service works with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. For more information, visit www.fws.gov, or connect with us through any of these social media channels: Facebook, Instagram, X (formerly known as Twitter), LinkedIn, YouTube and Flickr.
