You read the headline correctly, folks. I was glancing down through some headlines and came across an article in bowhuntingmag.com that floored me. There is an initiative afoot in Oregon that seeks to criminalize harvesting fish or game. Self-defense is apparently the only exception to a full ban on the harvest of any animal by hunting, fishing, or trapping. It goes further. Additionally, it criminalizes slaughter for food and aided common breeding practices. This is pretty serious stuff. If this push gets the required 112K signatures by next July, it’ll be on their ballot in 2022 to approve officially.
“As the shadow of the falling safe and the idea of ballot box biology starts to grow, this isn’t a time for sportsmen and sportswomen across Oregon and the rest of the country to turn and run. In fact, it’s time to dig in and embrace the fight since so much is riding on the outcome of all of this.”
Read the full article HERE. This is scary. If you’re setting back on your duff waiting to see what happens, you need to wake up. We fight these kinds of fights all year round at IFC, but you usually don’t hear about them. We handled working with DNR and other state agencies delicately and with tact when we can. But there may be a time when folks have to jump off the sidelines on issues. If you’re not an IFC member, you’re going to need to pony up $3 a month (on average) and become one.
In Liberty,
Michael Ware
IFC Chairman
This is pure insanity. At a time when western states are fighting numerous and horrendous wildfires, Oregonians would be cutting significant funding to OFWD, a part of which is used to manage habitat…
My first reaction was “It’ll never get on the ballot!” but then I thought about the Portland population and what has happened there – to a once lovely town I lived in during the late 70’s, and I realize that anything that seems unimaginable is actually…LIKELY, in the current political climate.
In some states, to get an initiative on the ballot, the signatures have to be gathered from each district. In other words, you couldn’t collect all signs from a single population center. Is that the case in Oregon? I certainly hope so!