The State : Judge Bans Duck Hunting

A federal judge has banned duck hunting in prime parts of California and four other states until lead shotgun pellets are prohibited in them. Lead pellets have been blamed for poisoning American bald eagles that eat the remains of migratory birds that have been hit but left behind by hunters. The decision by U.S. District Judge Edward Garcia in Sacramento could eliminate hunting this fall in the Lower Klamath and Tule Lake national wildlife refuges of Northern California. Garcia said the federal government has violated the Endangered Species Act by not forcing states to prohibit lead shot in areas where bald eagles are known to live. The federal Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed allowing only steel shot in eagle areas. Elsewhere, the ban applies to 10 counties in Illinois, 8 counties in Missouri, 1 county in Oklahoma and the Lower Klamath Basin in Klamath County, Ore. South Dakota, Iowa and Kansas banned lead shot in eagle habitats earlier this year.