Last week, after a year and a half of stalled litigation seeking to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to ban lead ammo in the Canaan Valley National Wildlife Refuge, the plaintiffs stipulated a dismissal of their lawsuit.
Every year, FWS opens new and modifies pre-existing hunting and fishing opportunities through “station-specific” refuge regulations. The 2022-23 proposed rule announced that the Service would be phasing out lead ammunition on the Canaan Valley Refuge. However, after going through the notice and comment period, FWS decided not to phase out lead ammo on the refuge.
A group of environmental plaintiffs, led by The National Wildlife Refuge Association and the Sierra Club filed suit in July 2023, seeking to force FWS to go forward with the ban on lead ammunition. The Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation, along with Safari Club International and the National Rifle Association, intervened in the case to defend the decision.
“The suit was baseless from the start,” said Michael Jean, Litigation Counsel for Sportsmen’s Alliance Foundation. “You cannot use the courts to force agencies to make rules, unless Congress has specifically required the agency to make the rule, and there is no such mandate from Congress in the 1997 Improvement Act, or any other law.” Read more