Getting the lead out

The Gazette

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Gov. Terry Branstad said Monday that a controversy over a proposed rule to require non-toxic shot in ammunition when hunting mourning doves in Iowa “should have been handled better” by the Iowa Natural Resources Commission of the Department of Natural Resources.

The governor's comments came a few days after members of the Legislature's Administrative Rules Review Committee voted 9-1 to hold off on a proposed rule to allow only non-toxic shot when hunting doves. That provision had been approved unanimously by the Natural Resources Commission in July.

Now, it's back on lawmakers' laps for the 2012 session. And when the first-ever Iowa dove hunting season opens Thursday, shotgun shells with lead shot will still be legal.

No surprise here. Controversy always seems to track mourning doves. Few issues draw as many passionate letters to the editor to this page.

Proposals to legalize dove hunting in Iowa were an annual fist fight in the Legislature for a decade until lawmakers last March used a fast-track procedure - controversial, of course - to make Iowa the last state west of the Mississippi to offer a dove season. Legislators don't draw up specific rules for a hunting season, though. That's left to professional staff in the appropriate agency. In this case, the DNR.

What has been unclear in this muddle regarding the dove hunting rules is majority legislators' intent on whether to ban lead shot. They need to clarify expectations in 2012.

That said, we think there's a bigger opportunity here: Clear the air on whether products with lead should be used in any Iowa hunting or fishing season.

Currently, hunters in Iowa must use non-toxic ammunition when hunting waterfowl because of a 1991 nationwide federal ban on lead shot.

A broad national coalition - including wildlife protection, environmental and some hunters groups - petitioned to ban lead in all bullets and shot for hunting and fishing tackle, but it was denied a year ago by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Lead is a well-documented health threat to humans, especially children, and has been banned in toys, gasoline and paint. Evidence from a growing number of scientific studies indicates that it's also toxic to some small mammals and birds - including mourning doves - that ingest it from the water or soil. A growing number of alternative ammunition and tackle products are safer and effective, although higher cost is still an issue.

So, Iowa legislators, why limit debate on this issue to a single species? Why not consider the big picture while you're at it? If there are good reasons to get the lead out, why not make Iowa a model for the nation?

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