The Biden administration banned cyanide bombs — known as M-44s — from Bureau of Land Management public lands. On April 15, the Trump administration quietly lifted that ban without a public comment period, without congressional authorization, and without telling the American public. Cyanide bombs are now back on 245 million acres of land that belongs to every American.
M-44s are spring-loaded devices planted in the ground and scented with decomposed animal tissue. Any creature that bites and pulls one is blasted in the face with cyanide and dies instantly. They were designed to kill coyotes — but they kill at least 150 nontarget species. They kill family dogs. They injure children. No warning sign protects an animal or a toddler that cannot read.
In March 2017, a 14-year-old boy named Canyon Mansfield found what looked like a lost sprinkler head on public land behind his house in Pocatello, Idaho. He picked it up. His 3-year-old yellow Lab, Kasey, was blasted in the muzzle and died. Cyanide sprayed Canyon's face, damaged his eyes, and left him suffering from chronic poisoning for years.
This is not a fringe issue. When Trump's EPA proposed keeping M-44s registered in 2019, it received 22,390 public comments. All but 10 opposed them. The EPA ignored every single one. The public has been clear for decades — these devices do not belong on public land.
The sheep producers M-44s were supposedly designed to protect don't even want them back. They use guard dogs now. Wildlife experts say random coyote killing actually creates more coyotes — not fewer. There is no scientific, practical, or public justification for this reversal.
Trump lifted this ban via a quiet memo. Congress must now make the ban permanent through Canyon's Law — H.R. 4180 and S. 2179 — sponsored by Rep. Jared Huffman and Sen. Jeff Merkley.
We're calling on Congress to pass Canyon's Law immediately and reinstate the ban on M-44 cyanide bombs on all federal public lands before another dog, another child, or another protected animal pays the price.

Photo: U.S. Wildlife Services