Brent, there are indeed a number of studies of lead and waterfowl. However, there are almost none on the impact of lead on upland game birds--and that's the direction in which the ban is heading. Whether the science concerning waterfowl is good is no longer the question. We've gone down that road. But in the process, we also bought into the fact that eagles were dying from eating shot and unrecovered birds, resulting in ingestation of lead. As I've pointed out elsewhere . . . what has happened to eagles in the interim?
It was possible to point to waterfowl or eagles, in the past, as poster birds for lead restrictions. No longer possible to point to eagles for any kind of restrictions, other than those already in place. And no evidence where upland birds are concerned.
So why expand the ban into an area where there's essentially no science?? A lot of it looks very much like over the top green, feel good stuff.
