A new order by the Department of Natural Resources will require hunters to use nontoxic ammunition in 56 Scientific and Natural Areas (SNAs) where hunting is allowed.

The order signed June 27 by DNR Commissioner Sarah Strommen is viewed by a large band of conservation groups as another step toward outlawing lead hunting ammo and lead fishing tackle. The change for SNAs resulted from petitions brought to the DNR starting several years ago by Friends of Minnesota Scientific and Natural Areas.

"It's a nice, good step,'' said Tom Casey, president of the group.

The order falls short of all that conservation groups requested of Strommen. They also sought to ban the use of lead fishing tackle on SNAs while asking for lead ammo prohibitions in state parks where hunting is allowed by special permit. The petition related to state parks is being addressed under a separate, more time-consuming rule-making process, said DNR Parks and Trails Division Director Ann Pierce.

Strommen's "designation order'' for SNAs will be incorporated into the upcoming Minnesota Hunting & Trapping Regulations booklet, due out during the first week of August. Minnesota's SNAs cover 300 square miles of land and are defined as places of exceptional scientific and educational value where native plants and animals flourish.

Strommen's rationale for the change, as described in the order, is that lead deposits from hunting ammunition undermine the value of SNAs. The toxicity of lead is harmful to humans, wildlife and wildlife habitat, the order states. One of the chief concerns of nongame wildlife officials and conservationists is that eagles, other raptors and scavengers become poisoned while feeding off gut piles left behind by deer hunters. Research also has shown that loons, swans and other waterfowl are poisoned every year by ingesting lead scattered in lakes from fishing tackle.

According to the DNR, there are more than 160 SNAs across the state. Strommen's order applies to 56 of those properties where hunting is allowed. The list includes:

  • Lost 40 SNA in Itasca County;
  • Lutsen SNA in Cook County;
  • Moose Mountain SNA in Duluth;
  • Prairie Coteau SNA in Pipestone County;
  • Uncas Dunes SNA in Sherburne County;
  • and Brownsville Bluff SNA in Houston County.

The order doesn't apply to 18 peatland SNAs where hunting is already allowed but not under the legal authority of the DNR commissioner.

Casey said Strommen's order banning lead ammunition on 56 SNAs where hunting is allowed clearly adds fuel to various conservation efforts aimed at lead-free alternatives to lead hunting ammunition and lead fishing tackle. His group was backed in its petition by 22 other conservation organizations.

The movement to ban lead outdoors is more than three decades old, started in earnest by a national lawsuit that gave rise in 1991 to a lasting, nationwide ban imposed on waterfowl hunters by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Agency. It demanded the use of nontoxic shot, defining it as any shot type that does not cause sickness and death when ingested by migratory birds.