In April 2026, the Trump administration quietly signed a memorandum of understanding between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) that puts a cruel and indiscriminate killing device back on the table for use on America's public lands. That device is the M-44 cyanide bomb — and what it does to animals is exactly as horrific as it sounds.

The M-44 is a spring-loaded trap that uses a scented bait to lure an animal close. When the animal bites or tugs at it, the device fires a pellet of sodium cyanide directly into its mouth. Death follows — but not quickly. The animal experiences terror, convulsions, and severe pain before it dies. There is no humane version of this. There is no acceptable use of this. It is one of the cruelest wildlife killing tools still in existence.

The USDA's Wildlife Services division has used the M-44 for decades, killing tens of thousands of wild animals — primarily coyotes and foxes, but far from exclusively. It has killed wolves, grizzly bears, and California condors — endangered species that are already fighting for survival and that are supposed to be protected by federal law. 

In 2023, the Biden administration did something right: it banned M-44 use on the more than 245 million acres of BLM-managed land. That ban came after years of pressure from animal welfare advocates and bipartisan concern from lawmakers — and following a 2017 incident in which a young boy in Idaho was injured and his dog killed after accidentally triggering an M-44 near their home.

Now that progress is being undone. The April 2026 MOU reopens the door to M-44 use on BLM lands, and language in the FY2027 USDA appropriations bill directs the agency to fully integrate the M-44 into its standard wildlife management strategy. This isn't a minor policy adjustment. It is a deliberate rollback of protections that took years to win — protections that existed because the M-44 was recognized as too cruel, too indiscriminate, and too dangerous.

Nonlethal methods for managing conflicts between wildlife and livestock already exist and are being used successfully by ranchers and farmers across the country. There is no justification — scientific, economic, or ethical — for returning to a device that causes this level of suffering when alternatives are available.

We are calling on the USDA and the BLM to reverse course: rescind the April 2026 memorandum of understanding as it relates to M-44 use, and restore the ban on cyanide bombs on public lands. Cruelty is not a wildlife management strategy. Sign this petition to make your voice heard.