Governor signs historic condor bill

ERIC LINDBERG
DAILY SOUND STAFF WRITER

A day before his deadline to put ink to paper, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Ridley-Tree Condor Preservation Act, effectively outlawing the use of lead ammunition within areas populated by the highly endangered California condor.
Assemblymember Pedro Nava, who introduced and pushed the legislation through the State Assembly to the governor's desk, commended Gov. Schwarzenegger for taking the historic step on Saturday.

"As far as I know, there is no other state that has banned the use of lead ammunition the way that we have," Nava said. "...It's one of the most important bills that the governor has signed this year."
Nava called it a highly symbolic gesture that not only acknowledges the scientific findings that lead is poisoning the condors, but is also an example to point out to future generations.
"When the environment is threatened and the condor is a victim of actions we take, we have an obligation to remedy the problem," he said.
Officials from the National Rifle Association, which lobbied heavily against the condor preservation act, decried the governor's approval of the bill, saying it ignores the legitimate concerns of the state's gun owners and sportsmen.
"By passing AB 821, the Legislature has usurped the authority of the Fish and Game Commission over the regulation of hunting and the management of the state’s wildlife," NRA officials wrote in a statement on their website. "Unlike the Fish and Game Commission, the Legislature did not take into account the effects of a lead ammunition ban on the state’s hunters. Studies show that a ban will force many hunters to quit hunting altogether, having catastrophic consequences on wildlife management practices and the state’s hunting heritage."
The act requires the use of non-lead rifle and pistol ammunition to be used when hunting big game and coyote within specified areas termed "condor country." Nava said that area is determined by findings from naturalists who work with condor preservation efforts and GPS tracking of wild condors.
“Governor Schwarzenegger is very pro-hunting and pro-gun rights," Dr. Michael Fry, director of conservation advocacy for the American Bird Conservancy, said in a statement. "His signing this bill is a confirmation that this law is not anti-gun, it is an anti-lead measure. Nontoxic, lead-free ammunition is widely available, and hunters are able to obtain ammunition that will not poison condors if they eat bullet fragments left in carcasses in the field."
Although the law will take effect in January, the Department of Fish and Game will have until July to develop the regulations, putting them in place before the fall deer hunting season.
Marc Weitzel, project leader for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's California Condor Recovery Program, said he didn't have much information about the bill yet, but heralded any efforts to remove lead from the environment.
"There is a fair amount of scientific evidence that condors are impacted by lead," Weitzel said. "It is a mortality factor. We have evidence that ingesting lead shot, lead bullets, have resulted in the death of condors."
Under the Ridley-Tree act, violators of the ammunition requirements face a $500 fine for a first offense. The act also requires the Fish and Game Commission to provide hunters with coupons for lead-free ammunition to the extent funding is available.
Both Nava and Weitzel agreed that the act is a significant step forward in the recovery of the condor population, which had dwindled to just 27 before conservation efforts boosted that number to its current level of 305 free and captive condors.
"The lesson here is never give up," Nava said. "This was a three-year struggle opposed by one of the most powerful interest groups, the National Rifle Association. We never gave up and we were successful."