Just heard a news report on a study that the DNR released today. They are studying the total ban of lead for small game hunting. I have not read the report and only heard the summary, but here is what the DNR released today:
-studying banning all lead for small game in the near future
-40% of hunters supported banning lead shells
-60% of hunters feel that the depositing of lead in the environment should be controlled by the government.
For all of those in the "that will never happen HERE" crowd, it's here. Just as Ted has repeatedly reported. The reporter said the DNR was talking about banning lead within the next two years, beginning with state land. The sate owns A LOT of the land in northern MN, as well as the federal and county governments. Banning lead just on government land would effectively dictate non-tox only for grouse hunting. The current study is to BEGIN with state land, followed by everything up to and including all private land, according to the report.
I will defintiely hold off on those two custom shotgun projects I was asking about on this forum. Living in the Land O' Whackjobs is too dicey on a lot of things, including building a pair of shotguns that are designed around lead.
As I reported here last month, the amount of money generated by hunting and fishing is trivial, yet it overwhelmingly eats up the DNR budget. Mining and forest products get th eDNR's attention, not a tiny, tiny handful of bird hutners who have non-tox unfriendly guns. And no one at the DNR wants to be bothered with logic about what is actually done to the environment by lead shells.
