Canyon’s Law

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 4180 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 4180

   To prohibit the use of M-44 devices, commonly known as ``cyanide
            bombs'', on public land, and for other purposes.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 26, 2025

Mr. Huffman (for himself, Mr. Cohen, Ms. DelBene, Ms. Norton, Mr. Min,
Ms. Schakowsky, and Ms. Brownley) introduced the following bill; which
was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to
     the Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently
   determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such
 provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   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.
            (6) More than 50 family dogs have been documented as killed
        by M-44 devices since 1990, and the full count is estimated to
        be significantly higher.
            (7) 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.
            (8) A Utah man, who was poisoned by an M-44 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.
            (9) 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.
            (10) 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.
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