Minnesota: Pro-Hunting Legislation Advances in St. Paul

On Wednesday, March 16, House File 3209, a bill which would prohibit the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) from adopting and implementing any rule to limit the use of lead shot in Minnesota, passed first read in the House Mining and Outdoor Recreation Policy Committee with an 11-3 vote.  HF 3209 is scheduled for a hearing in the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee on Wednesday, March 23 at 10:15am in the Legislature’s Basement Hearing Room.  If you are available, please consider attending this hearing to show your support for this legislation.  Also, please contact the members of the House Government Operations Committee in support of HF 3209.  Please click the “Take Action” button below to contact the committee members! 

As previously reported, HF 3209 was introduced by state Representative Tom Hackbarth in response to MDNR’s misguided agenda to ban the use of lead shot on State Wildlife Management Areas (WMAs) in the Farmland Zone.   

The MDNR’s proposed regulatory mandate for WMAs in the farmland zone would impose a significant burden on many of the state’s 70,000 pheasant hunters who hunt in these areas, as well as sportsmen and women who hunt wild turkey, ruffed grouse, and other small game species on what amounts to approximately 600,000 acres of public hunting land.

As we have seen with attempts to ban the use of lead ammunition in other states, arguments in favor of these bans are based on faulty science.  It is important to fully understand the facts concerning traditional hunting ammunition so Minnesotans are not misled into adopting a ban that could negatively impact the rich hunting heritage of Minnesota.  There has been no sound scientific evidence stating that traditional ammunition is having a population-level impact on any species in Minnesota.  To ensure proper conservation of species, wildlife must be managed with a fact-based approach.

Once again, please click the “Take Action” button above to contact the members of the House Government Operations and Elections Policy Committee with your support!