[Senkosam]

Now for my nemesis on sportsmen's rights:

'Don't shit where you eat' ...Wandy

(I take it you never took a powder in a restaurant!)

Are you looking for an excuse or permission to use lead? You do not have to. Go ahead. You do not need my permission. Your a big boy now.

Frank, I request you keep the replies on the up and up...

(Maybe you should follow your own advice.)

We don't have to get rid of our existing tackle, just use it up and replace it with non toxic alternatives. Don't wait until it gets to the endangered species list stage to start acting...

BUT,

I am currently guilty of being a closet polluter...

There is enough evidence supporting the dangers of lead, even in the smallest amounts, to humans and animals. Why would I want to pollute and create a toxic environment in the place I spend so much time in.

According to you, if you "use it up", that's okay. (For most of us it would take two lifetimes!) Why not start now!? Dump it all! Stand on street corners and proclaim the evils of split shotting and handout alternatives like rubbers at a hooker convention! Save the planet and a few loons while you're at it, but please don't preach! I go to church for that!

You asked for evidence that lead-use doesn't hurt the environment or the animals that live there. I've fished in a private lake for over 20 years, that has been used by more than 200 anglers a year, for the past 60 years. Hundreds of pounds of lead has been lost into the lake, yet, not once has there been dead water fowl or fish found that wasn't explained by manmade agents (weed killer) or natural phenomena. The DEC in cooperation with the Adirondacks Survey shocked the lake 9 years ago because of septic run-off concerns and the report indicated that not only was the lake the finest fishery in Orange C. but that the lake was the home of two, rare and exotic species of fish. The chemical analysis turned up nothing that would be a danger to man or animal. (people swim in the lake).