Usually, when the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) makes an announcement to expand fishing access in National Wildlife Refuges, recreational anglers get excited.
Unfortunately, the latest announcement includes some bad news that’s cause for concern.
This time, USFWS published a draft rule that could ban lead fishing tackle in certain National Wildlife Refuges.
The recreational fishing community fully supports conservation and we have a long record of making changes and sacrifices that help the environment. However, conservation must be rooted in sound science. The USFWS provides no evidence that lead fishing tackle is harming any specific wildlife populations in the proposed areas. This proposal is a proverbial “camel’s nose under the tent” that could escalate to much broader and equally baseless restrictions on your ability to fish.
Tell the USFWS that anglers should be allowed to continue to use traditional fishing tackle as we have safely done for generations.
