H.R. 4180

119th CONGRESS 1st Session

To prohibit the use of M–44 devices, commonly known as , on public land, and for other purposes.

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES · June 26, 2025 · Sponsor: Mr. Huffman

Table of contents

• H.R. 4180
  • SEC. 1. Short title
  • SEC. 2. Findings
  • SEC. 3. Use of M–44 devices on public land prohibited

SEC. 1. Short title

• This Act may be cited as Canyon’s Law.

SEC. 2. Findings

• Congress finds the following:
  • Sodium cyanide is the highly toxic pesticide active ingredient used in M–44 devices, also known as , and is used to kill coyotes, foxes, and wild dogs suspected of preying on livestock and poultry. cyanide bombs
  • Sodium cyanide is registered for restricted use under the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act () 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. 7 U.S.C. 136 et seq.
  • Poisoning by sodium cyanide leads to central nervous system depression, cardiac arrest, respiratory failure, paralysis, and blindness.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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:
    • The term public land means any Federal land under the administrative jurisdiction of a public land management agency.
    • The term public land management agency means each of, or a combination of, the following: