Montanan should tackle raptor lead poisoning from her position at USFWS

In 2016 South Dakota's senior US Senator called an end to lead contamination in the watersheds that support all life in the United States, "silly."

It was just before Christmas when Kathy Richardson and her husband noticed the large bald eagle on the ground near a stackyard of hay. Her post of the haunting photo of the eagle with its head dropped standing immobile in the snow led to a call to Potomac’s Wild Skies Raptor Center with hopes the eagle, later named Darby, could be saved. The center’s executive director, Brooke Tanner, had seen it before. She quickly diagnosed acute lead poisoning and guessed that the bird’s demise happened quickly. A week later, it died.  A Bitterroot study from 2011 to 2018 that tested 91 golden eagles in the winter found almost 95% had elevated lead levels in their blood. [Ravalli Republic]

Lead tackle is often swallowed by fish then ingested by other wildlife and not just by raptors. A potent neurotoxin, lead is released by coal-fired power plants, too. The Victoria Lake area on Beretta Road above Rapid City, South Dakota is a lead Superfund site in the making after decades of unrestricted shooting. 

The Waters of the United States (WOTUS) legislation seeks to give authority to the US Environmental Protection Agency to use some teeth to enforce the rights of people downstream to have clean water even from some sources that the US Geological Survey (USGS) has already identified as impaired. 

Led by scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey, Conservation Science Global, Inc., and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, researchers evaluated lead exposure in bald and golden eagles from 2010 to 2018. “Studies have shown lethal effects to individual birds, but this new study is the first to show population-level consequences from lead poisoning to these majestic species at such a wide scale," said Anne Kinsinger, USGS Associate Director for Ecosystems. Lead poisoning typically occurs when an eagle eats lead ammunition fragments lodged inside an animal carcass or in gut piles left behind when game is dressed in the field. [USGS]

Yes, Republican environmentalism is an oxymoron. When Republican domination is literally deadly to wildlife and humans alike maybe it's time for a little hope and change.

Martha Williams, the former director of Montana's wildlife agency, has been confirmed to lead the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, which is part of the Department of Interior, is responsible for protecting species listed under the Endangered Species Act. The service also oversees national conservation efforts — including fisheries, hatcheries, migratory birds, ecological services and federal wildlife refuges. [Helena Independent Record]

Eco-warrior Tracy Stone-Manning was an aide to Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), chief of staff for former Montana Governor Steve Bullock, ran the state’s Department of Environmental Quality and as the director of the Clark Fork Coalition she guided dam removal and river cleanup. She was confirmed to lead the US Bureau of Land Management late in 2021. 

On March 1 EPA will host a lead listening session for Region 8; it serves Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Utah, Wyoming and 28 Tribal Nations.