Congress bans cyanide bombs on public lands after poisoning 42 people
S. 2179 — Canyon’s Law · Filed by Jeff Merkley (D-OR) · 9 cosponsors · Introduced Jun 26, 2025 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill prohibits the use of M-44 devices (sodium cyanide 'cyanide bombs') on federal public lands and requires federal, state, and county agencies to remove any existing devices within 30 days. M-44s are used to kill predators like coyotes but are highly toxic, have killed at least 42 people and over 50 family dogs since 1984, and frequently kill non-target wildlife including endangered species. The bill protects public-land users and wildlife from accidental exposure to this EPA-classified Category One acute toxicant.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is a straightforward prohibition on a documented hazard (M-44 devices) on public lands, paired with a removal mandate. It is a public-safety measure addressing accidental poisoning of citizens and non-target wildlife.
What the text implies
- Removal mandate applies to state and county agencies using M-44s on federal public land, creating potential intergovernmental compliance costs and coordination requirements.
- Prohibition is limited to public land; private landowners and livestock operators may continue using M-44s on private property, preserving predator-control options for ranchers outside the federal estate.
- Bill does not address alternative predator-control methods or provide funding for ranchers to transition to safer alternatives, potentially creating political friction with agricultural interests.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
Citizens and their families gain protection from accidental exposure to a highly toxic pesticide on public lands they use for recreation and work. The bill eliminates a documented hazard (42+ human poisonings, 50+ family dogs killed, endangered species deaths) without restricting citizens' access to public lands or imposing costs on them.
Named in the bill
National Park Service, United States Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, Forest Service, Environmental Protection Agency, Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act
Where it stands
9 cosponsors: 8 Democrats, 1 Independents.
- Jun 26, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in Senate”
- Jun 26, 2025 — Referred to Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works · Congress.gov: “Read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Money around this bill
3 lobbying clients named this bill on 4 disclosure filings across 2 quarters, Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. Those filings disclosed $440,000 in lobbying spend. A filing names 9 bills on average, so that figure is what each filing reported, not a share belonging to this bill.
More lobbying clients named this bill than 61% of bills with at least one filing.
Jeff Merkley, the sponsor, reported $507,925 in PAC receipts in the 2026 cycle.
- Humane World Action Fund — $280,000 on 1 filing
- Animal Legal Defense Fund — $140,000 on 2 filings
- Animal Legal Defense Fund — $20,000 on 1 filing
Lobbying Disclosure Act filings through Jul 23, 2026. A filing shows who paid to lobby on a bill it names, not what changed.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (3,515 characters) on Sep 26, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 15,166 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
Money — Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act filings whose specific-issue field names this bill for quarters ending Dec 2025 to Jun 2026. A filing's amount is reported whole beside the median number of bills a filing names; it is never divided across them. PAC receipts are FEC-reported contributions to the sponsor's candidate committee in the 2026 cycle.
As of — lobbying records through Jul 23, 2026 · page rendered 2026-09-26.
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