The Cordova 2028 presidential campaign today released a comprehensive policy package — consisting of a Presidential Executive Order and proposed federal legislation — that would permanently ban sodium cyanide ejector devices, commonly known as M-44 cyanide bombs, from all federal lands and federally supported wildlife management activities across the United States.
The proposed legislation has been named the Starseer Kaley Cyanide Trap Ban Act, in direct recognition of TikTok animal welfare advocate Starseer Kaley, whose public advocacy has brought national attention to the ongoing use of M-44 devices by the USDA's Wildlife Services program.
“Starseer Kaley did the work that the federal government refused to do. She told the truth about what these devices are, what they do, and who they hurt. A bill named for a donor or a lobbyist is business as usual. A bill named for a citizen who fought because it was right — that is the standard we are setting.”
Starseer Kaley can be found at: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZP8pXv1r3/
What M-44 Devices Are
M-44 sodium cyanide ejector devices are spring-loaded traps deployed by the USDA Wildlife Services program as a predator control measure. When triggered, the device discharges a sodium cyanide charge directly into the face and mouth of the animal. Death follows rapidly from respiratory failure. The devices are indiscriminate by design — they cannot distinguish between a target predator, a non-target protected species, a domestic animal, or a human being.
Documented M-44 incidents have resulted in the deaths of thousands of non-target animals, including eagles, foxes, and companion dogs. In 2017, a child in Clark County, Idaho was directly exposed to sodium cyanide when an M-44 activated near him. His dog died at the scene.
Presidential Executive Order — Effective Day One
- Immediately prohibits all federal agencies, contractors, grantees, and cooperating entities from deploying, transporting, funding, or authorizing cyanide ejector devices on federal lands or pursuant to any federal cooperative agreement, regardless of land ownership or jurisdiction.
- Revokes all existing permits and memoranda of understanding authorizing M-44 use, effective immediately with no stay pending review absent a court order.
- Requires full public accounting of prior M-44 deployments, known injuries, and fatalities within 180 days.
- Establishes accountability mechanisms including suspension, termination, permanent disqualification, and referral for criminal prosecution for violations.
Starseer Kaley Cyanide Trap Ban Act — Federal Legislation
- Permanently prohibits manufacture, deployment, transport, possession for field use, sale, authorization, funding, and use of cyanide ejector devices on federal lands and through all federally supported activities.
- Closes the cooperative agreement loophole that has allowed Wildlife Services to deploy M-44s on private and state lands using federal funds.
- Establishes civil penalties of up to $250,000 per violation for natural persons and up to $1,000,000 per violation for corporate entities, with per-day accrual for continuing violations.
- Establishes criminal penalties of up to 5 years imprisonment per violation resulting in injury or death, and up to 2 years for all other knowing violations.
- Creates criminal fines of up to $500,000 for individuals and $2,000,000 for corporations and other legal entities per violation.
- Designates enforcement authority across the Departments of Interior, Agriculture, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Department of Justice.
- Establishes a Humane Wildlife Conflict Prevention Grant Program to fund ranchers, tribal governments, conservation organizations, states, and local governments in adopting non-lethal predator deterrence strategies.
- Provides full whistleblower protections for federal employees and contractors who report violations.
Statement from the Campaign
“The federal government has been firing cyanide into the faces of animals on public land for decades and calling it wildlife management. It is not management. It is indiscriminate poisoning, and it has injured people, killed family pets, and wiped out protected species — all on land that belongs to the American people. On day one, it ends. The order goes out. The permits are revoked. And the law we send to Congress will be named after the woman who refused to let the country keep looking away.”
— Vincent Cordova