WASHINGTON, D.C. — Three Democratic lawmakers, including Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley and California Rep. Jared Huffman, have introduced bills that would prohibit the use of M-44 cyanide traps to control predators on public lands nationwide.

The devices are intended to target coyotes, foxes and wild dogs that prey on livestock and poultry, though they have also been known to kill or injure pets and unsuspecting people.

M-44s are already banned in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and California. Most recently, the Oregon Legislature outlawed the devices after passing Senate Bill 580 in 2019. Two years earlier, an endangered wolf from the Shamrock pack in northeast Oregon was killed by one of the traps that had been set by USDA Wildlife Services.

A teenager from Pocatello, Idaho, was also seriously injured by an M-44 while walking near his home in 2017.

But M-44s are still being used in other states, including Colorado, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Texas, West Virginia and Wyoming.

Huffman and Rep. Steve Cohen, of Tennessee, are sponsoring legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives to ban M-44s on public lands nationwide, while Merkley has brought forward a similar proposal in the Senate.

The bills are named “Canyon’s Law,” after Canyon Mansfield, the Idaho teen. Mansfield’s dog, Kasey, was killed when they were both sprayed with cyanide from the trap.

Brooks Fahy, executive director of the wildlife advocacy group Predator Defense, said M-44s are dangerous and should be banned completely. According to data from USDA Wildlife Services, the devices were responsible for poisoning about 6,000 animals in 2022 — of which more than 150 were unintentional.

“Countless people have lost beloved pets, and both children and adults have been poisoned,” Fahy said. “The emotional scars are permanent.”

M-44s work when predators bite or tug on a baited capsule holder. That triggers the spring-activated device, spraying a dose of cyanide powder into the animal’s mouth.

USDA Wildlife Services describes M-44s as “an effective and environmentally sound wildlife damage management tool” for ranchers trying to control predators around their livestock.

The agency states that its personnel does not use M-44s on any property unless the landowner or manager requests or agrees to them.

“We must have a valid written cooperative agreement, agreement for control, memoranda of agreement or other applicable document signed by the landowner or authorized representative to place any M-44s,” the agency states.

Todd Nash, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said his organization has not taken a formal position on the recently introduced bills. While M-44s are banned in Oregon, Nash said he believes they are an effective predator management tool.

“We were (hopeful) that at some point that would be a tool that would be utilized again,” he said. “I think they are using them effectively in other states.”

But Fahy argued the devices have no place on the landscape, particularly given the suite of non-lethal alternatives now available to producers, such as hanging fladry on fences or hiring range riders to increase human presence.

“This is a nonpartisan issue,” he said. “Since M-44s can never be used safely, they must be banned, and a public lands ban is a great start.”