Ariz Game and Fish intervenes in lead ammo lawsuit

PHOENIX (AP) — The Arizona Game and Fish Department has filed a motion to intervene in a lawsuit seeking to regulate lead ammunition in the Kaibab National Forest.

Conservations groups contend the U.S. Forest Service has a duty to ensure that endangered California condors and other birds aren't killed by ingesting spent lead ammunition.

The Sierra Club, Grand Canyon Wildlands Council and Center for Biological Diversity want the Forest Service to place a mandatory ban on hunting with lead ammo in northern Arizona.

Arizona Game and Fish has been encouraging hunters to use non-lead ammunition. The agency says that is the best approach for long-term success of the condor program in the Southwest.

About 75 condors fly in a range that stretches from Arizona's Grand Canyon to southern Utah's Zion National Park.