SB 2179, titled “Canyon’s Law,” would prohibit the use of M-44 devices on public land. M-44s are spring-loaded predator-control devices that eject sodium cyanide when triggered by an animal and are used to kill coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs suspected of preying on livestock and poultry. The bill’s findings describe sodium cyanide as a highly toxic restricted-use pesticide and cite incidents involving human exposure, injuries, deaths of pets, and harm to wildlife, including endangered species.
The bill would make it unlawful to prepare, place, install, set, deploy, or otherwise use an M-44 device on public land, defined as federal land under the jurisdiction of agencies such as the National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Reclamation, and Forest Service. It would also require any federal, state, or county agency that has placed such devices on public land to remove them within 30 days of enactment. In effect, the bill would eliminate this predator-control method from public lands and direct immediate removal of existing devices.
The bill’s impact would be to override continued public-land use of M-44s by federal and other agencies operating on federal lands, while leaving the broader federal pesticide framework in place. It would not ban sodium cyanide generally, but would specifically restrict this device on public land and create a removal mandate for agencies that have deployed it. The measure could affect wildlife management, livestock protection practices, and agency predator-control operations in western states where M-44s have been used.
Available context suggests the bill is framed as a public safety and wildlife-protection measure, with no recorded committee debate or votes yet. The findings emphasize risks to children, pets, nontarget wildlife, and endangered species, indicating a strong protective rationale. Because there are no transcripts or vote records, there is no documented opposition in the provided materials, but the likely point of contention is whether M-44s are a necessary tool for predator control on public lands versus an unacceptable hazard to people, pets, and wildlife.
SB 2179 would amend federal law by prohibiting the deployment of M-44 cyanide ejector devices on public land and requiring their removal within 30 days by any federal, state, or county agency that has placed them there. The bill would directly affect public land management agencies and predator-control practices on federal lands, while leaving the broader regulation of sodium cyanide under FIFRA unchanged. It would also likely reduce the use of a controversial livestock-protection tool in areas where public lands overlap with grazing and wildlife habitat.
The bill appears to have a strongly protective, anti-M-44 sentiment based on its findings and sponsors. It is presented as a response to documented injuries, deaths of pets, and harm to wildlife, including endangered species, and is framed as a public safety and conservation measure. No committee transcript or vote data are provided, so there is no recorded legislative opposition or support beyond the bill’s introduction by multiple senators.
The main policy tension is between predator control for livestock protection and the risks posed by M-44 devices to people, pets, and nontarget wildlife. Supporters of the bill are likely to emphasize the documented injuries, fatalities, and endangered-species impacts cited in the findings, while opponents would likely argue that M-44s remain a useful tool for managing coyotes and other predators on remote public lands. The bill’s removal mandate and its application to federal lands managed by multiple agencies are the most likely points of dispute.