U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s new leadership has terminated its unethical and illegal agreement with the National Rifle Association to assist in the recruitment, education and retaining of hunters through NRA’s outreach programs following a lawsuit filed by Friends of Animals in January.

The agreement was signed by the former Trump administration just weeks before President Biden’s inauguration.

“The sordid agreement sought to commit the federal government to support the NRA’s gun promotion activities in the guise of hunter safety for 10 years,” said Michael Harris, general counsel and director of Friends of Animals Wildlife Law program.

Within days of the agreement, FoA filed a lawsuit and urged FWS to rescind the agreement. On May 5, the new director of FWS wrote to NRA cancelling the agreement and stating that the agreement had not been “adequately reviewed by staff or the Solicitor’s office” before being approved last year.

FoA commends this move by the FWS.

“FWS should be protecting wildlife, not encouraging people to kill animals for pleasure by partnering with pro-hunting organizations,” Harris said. “With a measly four percent of Americans choosing to hunt, agreements like these don’t make sense for our country or the native wildlife we share the environment with.”

Added Priscilla Feral, president of Friends of Animals: “The Trump administration couldn’t resist one more hail Mary attempt to prop up the pro-hunting NRA, an organization that filed for bankruptcy Jan. 15 and is headed for extinction as the number of hunters has been plummeting for three decades.”