Lead poisoning can pose a serious health risk to birds and other forms of wildlife on the nation’s public lands, so a nonprofit has called for a ban of lead in national parks.
Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility would like the National Park Service to ban the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle.
Although few parks allow hunting, there are exceptions, and most allow fishing.
One example of how exposure occurs is the California condor, which can feed on the carcasses of animals killed with lead ammunition.
At one point, the condor population had dwindled to near extinction.
The Park Service tried a similar ban during the Obama administration but faced opposition from the gun lobby.
