Local and national conservation groups today announced an agreement with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that will result in the Service revisiting an earlier decision to cancel a phase out of lead ammunition on Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge in West Virginia. Friends of Blackwater, Sierra Club (West Virginia Chapter), and the National Wildlife Refuge Association, all represented by Earthjustice, cheered the outcome as a win for people and wildlife.

“While we support hunting as an approved wildlife management tactic, it needs to be done in ways that minimize adverse impacts,” said Jim Kotcon, chair of the West Virginia Chapter of Sierra Club. “This agreement means that the agency should rely on the scientific evidence to do what is best for all wildlife at the Refuge.”

Lead ammunition poses well-known risks to both human health and wildlife. Waterfowl and other birds accidentally ingest lead ammunition alongside the pebbles they swallow to aid digestion, and suffer harmful — often fatal — lead poisoning. Eagles, vultures, and other wildlife that scavenge on animals shot with lead ammunition are also impacted. Lead ammunition shatters inside game animals, potentially harming not only scavenging wildlife but also hunters and their families who eat the meat. The Fish and Wildlife Service itself has surveyed the evidence and concluded that “the best available science … demonstrates that lead ammunition and tackle have negative impacts on both human health and wildlife.”

Canaan Valley was chosen in 2022 as one of 10 wildlife refuges nationwide to phase out the use of this toxic ammunition. But later that year, the Service reversed course without explanation. Conservation groups challenged the Service’s decision to cancel its lead phaseout at Canaan Valley and in December 2024 the parties entered into a settlement agreement in which the Service agreed to revisit the issue and make a reasoned decision by 2026 on a refuge-wide lead phaseout, taking all evidence into account. In the meantime, the Service will require non-lead ammunition on the newly accessible Big Cove section of Canaan Valley, accounting for approximately 15% of the Refuge’s total acreage.

“This settlement makes clear that the Service’s decisions about the use of toxic lead ammunition must be based on science and the wildlife protective mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System,” said Aaron Bloom, senior attorney with Earthjustice’s Biodiversity Defense Program. “The harms of lead ammunition to people and wildlife are well-documented, and it should be a straightforward decision to move forward with a lead phaseout at Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, which supports an abundance of protected and beloved wildlife.”

“We are pleased to reach a positive resolution in this case, and we look forward to working with the Service in the future,” said Desirée Sorenson-Groves, president and CEO of the National Wildlife Refuge Association.

Reporter Resources:

• Unequivocal scientific evidence shows that hunting with lead ammunition poisons and often kills more than 100 species of non-targeted wildlife.
• 2022 study published in the journal Science demonstrating population-level impacts on bald and golden eagles from lead ammunition.
• A study showing that people who eat game meat shot with lead ammunition have elevated blood lead levels.
• 2013 scientific consensus statement on the toxic effects of lead ammunition on human health and the environment, and the need to reduce and eventually eliminate the use of lead ammunition.
• A 2013 study found “no major difference” in the price of lead-free and lead-core ammunition for most popular calibers.