By Mary Ann Bragg
mbragg@capecodonline.com
March 14, 2009
Thousands of fishermen and hunters in the Cape Cod National Seashore could feel a financial pinch next year under a proposed federal plan to ban lead ammunition and fishing tackle in national parks.
The National Park Service announced last week that it will eliminate the use of lead in firearms, fishing and hunting by December 2010.
Lead can harm wildlife through ingestion of spent lead shot and bullets, lost lead fishing tackle, and prey containing lead. Dissolved lead can contaminate groundwater, posing a risk to plants, animals and humans, according to federal officials.
While a handful of local sportsmen interviewed yesterday said they understood the need to eliminate the use of lead-based products, they noted the downside: cost.
"It's more expensive, but there are alternatives" to lead ammunition, Eastham hunter George Ministeri said.
Federal officials have banned lead ammunition in waterfowl hunting nationwide since 1991. The proposed sweeping ban in federal parks matches emerging national environmental protection trends, where the focus on lead has moved to other wildlife, according to National Park Service spokeswoman Jody Lyle.
In the Seashore, hunters can shoot waterfowl, deer and upland game such as rabbits, pheasants and quail. Some hunters still use a lead-based deer shot, Ministeri said.
Many hunters now use steel shot as an alternative to lead, Provincetown hunter William Souza said.
A 25-shell box of lead shot runs from about $6 to $10, Souza said. A box of steel or other "non-toxic" shot costs $20 to $40, he said.
"I use all steel," Souza said. "It's much better for the environment."
Freshwater and saltwater fishermen use the Seashore as well.
"It would impact my inventory," Rich Wood of Nelson's Bait & Tackle in Provincetown and Truro said of banning lead from Seashore hunting and fishing. "It would impact my customers and what alternatives they would use."
On Thursday, Seashore officials were still sorting through paperwork to determine how they would implement a lead ban. The proposed ban includes ammunition used by park rangers. "We've got some homework to do," said Carrie Phillips, the park's chief of natural resources management.
Lyle said the proposed lead ban in national parks is not expected to be adopted quickly, allowing time for the public to comment on the plan.
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A four ounce pyramid is gonna be real big in the future. Do you think that this will affect home brewed plugs?
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