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National Park Service Director Jon Jarvis said he has no plans to ban lead bullets and fishing tackle in parks but said nonlead alternatives are a good option for hunters and sportsmen.
Jarvis spoke to the Jackson Hole Daily in a phone interview Wednesday while he was in California.
Former acting Director Daniel Wenk seemed to propose such a ban in March but quickly retracted the statement, saying the Park Service would study the issue further.
Jarvis said Wenk’s announcement “came out poorly.”
“It really was intended to mean that the National Park Service, in our own operations ... would move away from lead ammo,” Jarvis said.
Jarvis didn’t rule out a transition to nonlead ammunition in parks, calling it a broad goal that “is going to take a long time.”
He said educational efforts, such as shooting events that allow hunters and gun enthusiasts to try nonlead bullets, have worked well in California.
“The shooters and hunters can experiment with the ballistics,” he said. “They walked away saying this is perfectly good ammunition. Yes, copper ammunition is more expensive, but you really don’t use a lot of ammunition.”
“It can’t be an outright ban,” Jarvis said. “We’ve got to win over the communities out there that hunt and fish.”
Wyoming’s U.S. Sens. John Barrasso and Mike Enzi recently said they would oppose such a ban.
Barrasso and Enzi issued a news release last month saying a ban on lead in parks would “negatively impact hunters, anglers, conservation groups and manufacturers throughout the country.”
Their statement comes despite data from Craighead Beringia South, a Kelly-based research group, that show ravens and eagles get elevated lead levels in their blood during hunting season by ingesting bullet fragments left in gut piles from hunter-killed game.
Of about 500 ravens tested over five years, researchers say roughly 50 percent showed elevated lead levels during the big-game hunting season, compared with 2 percent during the non-hunt periods. For eagles, the lead toxicity is more pronounced, with 85 percent of eagles exhibiting high lead levels during the hunting season.
Jarvis also discussed a law that will allow concealed weapons in parks. The law, which goes into effect in February, will allow people to carry concealed weapons as long as their permit is recognized in the state that contains the park.
“My job as the director is to implement the laws that are passed by Congress and signed by the president,” he said. “My goal is to prepare the parks to make sure our law enforcement rangers are well-steeped in the applicable laws.”
Jarvis also said some areas such as federal buildings will need signs to inform people of places where guns are not allowed.
Read more from the interview with Jarvis in next week’s Jackson Hole News&Guide.