ST. PAUL - Minnesota wildlife officials will hold a public forum on their plan to ban some types of lead ammunition from a swath of state-owned hunting land.
The forum will be from 6 to 9 p.m. Thursday, March 10, at the headquarters of the Department of Natural Resources, 500 Lafayette Road, St. Paul.
Under the DNR proposal, lead pellets from shotguns would be banned from some 400,000 acres of wildlife management areas in the traditionally prairie parts of the state, known as the “farmland zone,” by as early as 2018. Supporters say a nontoxic requirement will protect wildlife; opponents say the ban takes away their personal choice and tramples their rights.
“This is the first time the public has had a chance to express their opinions in person about the proposal,” said Steve Merchant, wildlife populations program manager for the DNR and the agency’s lead on the ban. “There often is no substitute for a face-to-face conversation about topics like this that generate strong interest.”
The DNR’s plan would mostly affect hunters targeting pheasants, as well as wild turkeys, squirrels and rabbits. It would not affect deer hunters, who are required to use a single projectile (a slug from a shotgun or bullet from a rifle).
