In Lead Poisoning and Rose-Colored Glasses: The California Condor Story, I had written about the California Condor, a species whose genesis could be traced to prehistoric times yet is now nearly extinct. The meager number of those that remain is rapidly dwindling, and many of them have faced the dangers of toxicity from eating animal carcasses that had been killed by hunters using lead-based ammunition.

The idea of measures restricting the use of lead-based ammunition to any degree naturally faced rabid opposition from the notoriously influential National Rifle Association. This was reported three weeks ago:

(Commissioner) R. Judd Hanna was asked to resign from the state Fish and Game Commission one day after 34 Republican legislators wrote Schwarzenegger, requesting Hanna's ouster because of their "grave concern" that his stance against lead bullets made him a biased member of a commission that is taking up the issue.

Hanna, an avid hunter, chided the National Rifle Association and others who oppose a ban, saying they are ignoring scientific evidence that lead poisoning from bullets is killing and sickening one of the most endangered birds in North America. He believes the NRA pushed for his removal.

"It seems to me that the hunters are not living up to their mantra that hunters are the first line of conservation. They need to be proactive," said Hanna, 66, a retired real estate developer, former Navy commander, former NRA member and lifelong Republican who said he voted twice for Schwarzenegger.

"This is not about me. It's about the condor. It's about the NRA hijacking the system," he said.

The NRA and some hunting groups oppose a ban, saying that the science linking lead bullets to condor casualties is inconclusive, that nonlead bullets cost too much for many hunters, and that government is trying to regulate hunter behavior. - Los Angeles Times

What are some of the consequences of hunter behavior which the NRA did not want to be regulated?

Condors eat only dead animals, and the birds can inadvertently consume poisonous lead-bullet fragments found in hunter-shot game. It was lead that forced the capture of the last wild condor in 1987. Nevertheless, 20 years later, many hunters are still using lead ammunition - and released condors continue to die. Now there is a chance to make a much-needed change to protect the condor and other wildlife. The state Senate is considering legislation (AB821) that would restrict the use of lead ammunition.

When a lead bullet slams into a game animal, it shatters into scores and sometimes hundreds of highly toxic pieces. Biologist Grainger Hunt showed me dozens of X-rays he had taken of hunter-shot deer. A typical black-and-white image revealed an astonishing sight: Scattered among the deer's shadowy ribs and vertebrae were more than 200 brilliant white particles of lead. "This 'lead snowstorm' spreads widely from the wound site," Hunt said. Consuming even one of these tiny fragments can poison a condor, other wildlife or even hunters.[…]

Released birds have to be regularly trapped and their blood tested for lead exposure. Condors with high lead levels have to be confined and injected twice daily with a chemical that binds with lead and carries it out of their bodies. Dozens of condors have gone through this expensive medical treatment known as chelation. Some poor birds have been poisoned several times and needed multiple chelation treatments at the estimated cost of thousands of dollars per bird per procedure. Despite biologists' best efforts, some condors suffer long and horrible deaths by starvation when lead poisoning paralyzes their digestive systems. The condor cannot fully recover until sport hunters switch to non-lead ammunition. - San Francisco Chronicle

California State Assemblyman Pedro Nava (D Santa Barbara) guided a bill through the legislature which would ban the use of lead-based ammunition within the areas inhabited by the condors, and after much pressure was applied from all sides, Governor Schwarzenegger made his choice:

Audubon California applauds signing of legislation to protect California Condor

Sacramento, CA – Audubon California today applauded Gov. Schwarzenegger's decision to sign AB 821, which will help the continued recovery of the California Condor by banning the use of lead ammunition from areas inhabited by the endangered species.

"This is a great day for the California Condor and the State of California," said Glenn Olson, executive director of Audubon California. "I would like to commend Governor Schwarzenegger for signing the Ridley-Tree Condor Conservation Act and again putting our state at the forefront on wildlife protection."

Condors frequently feed on animal carcasses left behind by hunters, and ingest dangerously high levels of lead from ammunition. Audubon California, which has long advocated on behalf of the endangered species, has been pushing for additional protections for the Condor both among hunters and actively at the legislative and policy levels.

The new law, authored by Assemblyman Pedro Nava, will require the use of non-lead centerfire ammunition within the Department of Fish and Game's deer hunting zones within current and potential condor range in California. Lead-free ammunition is increasingly available and will have no effect on hunters' enjoyment of their sport. To the extent funding is available, big game hunters in these hunting zones will get coupons for non-lead ammunition at no or reduced charge.

"This legislation is clear proof that creative solutions are available to our most vexing environmental issues, and that Californians need not choose between wildlife protection and recreational uses, such as hunting," added Olson. -Audubon California