June 26 (legislative day, June 24), 2025
Mr. Merkley (for himself, Mr. Sanders, Mr. Wyden, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Heinrich, Mr. Schiff, and Ms. Alsobrooks) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works
To prohibit the use of M–44 devices, commonly known as cyanide
bombs
, on public land, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as Canyon’s Law
.
Sec. 2. Findings
Congress finds the following:
(1)
Sodium cyanide is the highly toxic pesticide active ingredient used in M–44 devices, also known as cyanide bombs
, and is used to kill coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs suspected of preying on livestock and poultry.
(2)
Sodium cyanide is registered for restricted use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act (7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.) as a Category One acute toxicant, the most hazardous Environmental Protection Agency classification available, due to the harm it poses to people and the environment.
(3)
Poisoning by sodium cyanide leads to central nervous system depression, cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, paralysis, and blindness.
(4)
The Environmental Protection Agency authorizes the use of M–44 devices nationwide, and in recent years, M–44s were used in Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia, and Wyoming.
(5)
In 2017, an M–44 device exposed an Idaho child to a sublethal dose of sodium cyanide with subsequent short-term and long-term medical complications. Two Wyoming children were also exposed to the poison from another M–44 device. Three family dogs died in these two separate incidents. More than 50 family dogs have been documented as killed by M–44 devices since 1990. The full count is estimated to be significantly higher.
(6)
The indiscriminate M–44 device commonly harms nontarget wildlife and people; at least 42 people have accidentally triggered a cyanide bomb causing exposure to cyanide gas and injuries since 1984. A Utah man, who was poisoned by an M–44 device in 2003 and permanently disabled, died in 2018 with cyanide poisoning from exposure to an M–44 device listed as a contributing cause of death on his death certificate.
(7)
M–44 devices kill targeted animals only 53 percent of the time. Thousands of nontarget species of animals have been killed by M–44s, including bald eagles, golden eagles, gray wolves, black bears, grizzly bears, bobcats, fishers, and family dogs.
(8)
Despite the United States Fish and Wildlife Service determining in 1993 that M–44 devices could kill endangered species like the California Condor, the use of the M–44 continues in areas where endangered species are found and continues to result in the deaths of endangered species.
Sec. 3. Use of M–44 devices on public land prohibited
(a) In general
Preparing, placing, installing, setting, deploying, or otherwise using an M–44 device on public land is prohibited.
(b) Removal
Not later than 30 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, any Federal, State, or county agency that has prepared, placed, installed, set, or deployed an M–44 device on public land shall remove each such M–44 device from public land.
(c) Definitions
In this Act:
(1) M–44 device
(A) In general
The term M–44 device means a device designed to propel sodium cyanide when triggered by an animal.
(B) Common names
The term M–44 device includes any device that may be commonly known as an M–44 ejector device
or an M–44 predator control device
.
(2) Public land
The term public land means any Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of a public land management agency.
(3) Public land management agency
The term public land management agency means each of, or a combination of, the following:
(A)
The National Park Service.
(B)
The United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
(C)
The Bureau of Land Management.
(D)
The Bureau of Reclamation.
(E)
The Forest Service.