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Cebu_4_2
3rd December 2014, 06:19 PM
Obama’s feds hid key data to get Calif. lead ammo ban passed in backdoor gun control move


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/2/lead-ammunition-ban-passed-after-feds-withheld-key/#ixzz3KtKjg0W8
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By Valerie Richardson (http://www.washingtontimes.com/staff/valerie-richardson/) -

A pro-hunting group is up in arms after obtaining emails that it says indicate that a federal official withheld critical data on lead blood levels in the California condor until after gun control advocates in the California state legislature (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/california-state-legislature/) used the iconic bird’s plight to help push through a law last year to ban lead ammunition.

The National Shooting Sports Foundation (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/national-shooting-sports-foundation/) obtained the emails as part of a Freedom of Information Act request showing that John McCamman (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/john-mccamman/), California condor recovery coordinator for the Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/fish-and-wildlife-service/), did not make the report public until the bill was on its way to the desk of Gov. Jerry Brown. Mr. Brown signed the measure in October 2013.

The annual update, which had been previously issued in June, found little change in the condor’s blood lead levels despite a 2007 ban on lead ammunition in the “condor zone,” a lengthy swath of habitat along the coast from Ventura County to Santa Clara County. The California state legislature (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/california-state-legislature/) acted at the urging of wildlife and animal rights advocates, led by the Humane Society, which argued that the California condor and other species were being poisoned by ingesting lead shot, fragments or contaminated prey.

Lawrence Keane (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lawrence-keane/), NSSF (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/national-shooting-sports-foundation/) senior vice president and general counsel, accused the Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/fish-and-wildlife-service/) of deliberately sitting on the report in order to bolster the chances of passage of Assembly Bill 711, which ushered in the nation’s first statewide lead ammunition ban.

“[T]he email thread shows that they withheld that from the public; they withheld it from the legislature (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/california-state-legislature/) purposely,” Mr. Keane (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lawrence-keane/) said. “And why? Because the results show that despite the existing law and regulations that ban the use of traditional ammunition by hunters, it was not having an impact on condor blood-lead levels in California.”

Mr. Keane (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lawrence-keane/) added, “Which suggests, as we have said all along, that condors in California are accessing lead from other sources, not ammunition.”

Gun rights groups, which have blasted the law as a backdoor effort to ban hunting, countered that the lead-poisoning claim wasn’t backed up by scientific research. About 95 percent of U.S. hunting ammunition is made of lead.

Mr. McCamman (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/john-mccamman/) could not be reached for comment Tuesday, but Fish and Wildlife spokesman Scott Flaherty said that while the 18-page report, entitled “California Condor Recovery Program, Project Update and 2011 and 2012 Lead Exposure Report,” had been held back, “I’m pretty sure it was not delayed simply to withhold it from the debate.”

The emails between Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/fish-and-wildlife-service/) personnel show that a draft of the report was ready in April 2013. The state legislature (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/california-state-legislature/) passed a final version of the bill on Sept. 10, 2013. Seven days later, Mr. McCamman (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/john-mccamman/) sent an email to agency wildlife biologist Joseph Brandt.
“Joseph — is this ready to go? I’ve attached a summary document — the state has been avoiding getting into the middle of the legislatures business (AB711) but now that that is over, this has to be ready to go. … [Are] you comfortable?” says Mr. McCamman (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/john-mccamman/) in an email dated Sept. 17, 2013, provided by the NSSF (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/national-shooting-sports-foundation/).

The email suggests Mr. McCamman (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/john-mccamman/) may have been trying to avoid embroiling the Fish and Wildlife Service (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/fish-and-wildlife-service/) on either side in the political debate over lead ammunition, but Mr. Keane (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lawrence-keane/) said that such a decision was not the bureaucrat’s call to make.

“It’s disingenuous if he were to suggest that he was somehow trying to stay out of it,” Mr. Keane (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/lawrence-keane/) said. “By withholding that information, he injected himself into it, and again, that information was relevant — highly relevant — to the debate. The public should have been allowed to take that into consideration — certainly members of the legislature (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/california-state-legislature/), and even the governor, before signing the bill.”

Mr. Flaherty said that while he was unfamiliar with the details surrounding the report’s release, “It’s not the business of the service (http://www.washingtontimes.com/topics/fish-and-wildlife-service/) to influence state legislation on condor matters.”

“Our concern is strictly focused on condor conservation and condor health and the effect that lead has on condors,” Mr. Flaherty said. “It’s a scientific fact that lead poisoning is a leading cause of death in condors.”
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Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/dec/2/lead-ammunition-ban-passed-after-feds-withheld-key/#ixzz3KtKe2wBy
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General of Darkness
3rd December 2014, 07:39 PM
Well this is a fucking shocker.

crimethink
3rd December 2014, 08:35 PM
Lead ammunition has zero role in poisoning animals. The lead found in animal blood is from industrial wastes.

Twisted Titan
4th December 2014, 05:37 AM
Dont tell Alcoa or The Koch Brothers that one....

its a few good ole boys that hunt wild pheasant and quail