OR ballot to end hunting, fishing, ranching, dairy farming. . .

[Irrelevant]

Sorry, but stupid beliefs is a condition of democracy.

Doesn't mean I can't soapbox against it!

 

[elkduds]

I'm not surprised that all of the diehard democrats on here have somehow missed this thread.

I hope the voters in Oregon are able to kill this.

I posted the thread, FFS. Just as there is an extreme right, there is an extreme left. Democrats like me value public lands; fair distribution of wealth; separation between business, church and state; human rights over corporate privileges, that kind of radical politics. Rather than current extremes of polarization, why aren't our politicians racing to the middle? Plenty of room there.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Sorry, but stupid beliefs is a condition of democracy. I see you picked Scientology to make a point, but would you be surprised to see a state try to make Christianity the official religion despite the Establishment Clause? We took until the 19th amendment to give women the right to vote and some people thought that was fringe. We have to be comfortable with the majority deciding on these ideas. Otherwise we just get one batshit crazy guy doing it.

Agree with a lot of what both of you have stated. Maybe the answer is raising the bar a bit on what gets put on the ballot. States like Oregon and Colorado set the bar so low for ballot initiatives that they really invite lots of fringe ideas. Some do get rejected, which is good, but many gain unwarranted “credibility”. In a constitutional republic form of government elected representatives make laws. That generally requires some level of compromise and after the fact accountability. If a poor policy is enacted via ballot initiative there is not a requirement to figure out how to implement or pay for it and after the fact no one to hold accountable for the failures. I say the bar for such ballot initiatives should be quite high and reserved for urgent policy changes that are more like 60/40 or 70/30 issues.

 

[SAJ-99]

If a poor policy is enacted via ballot initiative there is not a requirement to figure out how to implement or pay for it and after the fact no one to hold accountable for the failures. I say the bar for such ballot initiatives should be quite high and reserved for urgent policy changes that are more like 60/40 or 60/30 issues.

Only about half the states (mostly in the west, not sure why) have ballot initiatives and a good percentage are indirect so they don't immediately go to law. It is a way for the average person to suggest a change. Sort of a mix of a representative republic and true democracy. I don't mind it but know I have to expect some crazy stuff on occasion. Like I said, I think the problem is most people (certainly hunters fall into this group) want to ignore politics and just hit the button with the letter they like. They will keep taking in the shorts until they start paying attention.

 

[Candiru]

This should be a gift article: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/21/...e_code=1.sFA.KSEw.TtUv4bKbErav&smid=url-share

 

[jmyers]

Spay or neuter your pets? A whole bunch of "what if's" are possible.

Spay and neuter the creator and signers of the petition

 

[Hem]

Visiting family in Washington over the 4th. Can't wait to hear from BIL who runs a dairy farm under contract with Tillamook.

 

[py2o3434]

so crazy that its gone this far

 

[Hydrophilic]

Yes, but...

This is not a mainstream view. I hang out with a bunch of Democrats and folks even farther left and none of them support it. Talked to two vegan friends in the last month that are opposed to it. Even Tina Kotek, who if you ask most hunters in southern Oregon is a socialist fascist communist (insert your expletive), has come out against it.

Gov. Tina Kotek gives statement regarding IP 28

The measure would criminalize hunting and fishing practices, as well as some animal breeding and research.

www.kdrv.com

Nobody except the fringe whackos and the woefully uninformed is aligned with PETA, and most folks know that.



I agree with your broader point that we should be meaner to folks with fringe beliefs.

Top comments on a recent NY Times article. This is a fringe, extremist idea that most people don’t align with. I’m not worried about this at all.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Top comments on a recent NY Times article. This is a fringe, extremist idea that most people don’t align with. I’m not worried about this at all.

View attachment 411122

For me I guess it depends on what exactly you are worried about. It is likely that this won’t pass, but there is no certainty in elections. Once something makes the ballot, anything can happen. Particularly in a mostly rural state with one major urban population center.

And the supporters have said they will continue to run this even it fails, steadily growing support over time. There is also much discussion on this type of initiative being exported to other states, likely in a more targeted version focused just on a ban on hunting and trapping, excluding agriculture and fishing. The anti-hunting folks will look to employ a strategy of shifting baselines, if they run a hunting/trapping ban later it doesn’t look so extreme compared to IP 28.
A more “modest, common-sense” proposal as the anti-hunting folks in Colorado like to say so often. I believe In Defense of Animals is supporting IP 28 and they were also involved in Prop 127 here in Colorado.

I don’t disagree with those NYT commenters, I think these initiatives do hurt their overall cause. But there is one thing I have learned attending Colorado Wildlife Commission meetings, never underestimate the zealotry and outright hatred that many of these activists have for hunting and hunters.

 

[Brute]

For the Love of God, Leave Oregon's Farmers Alone

Oregon can protect animals without treating farmers, ranchers, hunters, and fishermen like suspects in a barnyard crime drama.

cyrusjavadior.substack.com

 

[Hydrophilic]

For me I guess it depends on what exactly you are worried about. It is likely that this won’t pass, but there is no certainty in elections. Once something makes the ballot, anything can happen. Particularly in a mostly rural state with one major urban population center.

And the supporters have said they will continue to run this even it fails, steadily growing support over time. There is also much discussion on this type of initiative being exported to other states, likely in a more targeted version focused just on a ban on hunting and trapping, excluding agriculture and fishing. The anti-hunting folks will look to employ a strategy of shifting baselines, if they run a hunting/trapping ban later it doesn’t look so extreme compared to IP 28.
A more “modest, common-sense” proposal as the anti-hunting folks in Colorado like to say so often. I believe In Defense of Animals is supporting IP 28 and they were also involved in Prop 127 here in Colorado.

I don’t disagree with those NYT commenters, I think these initiatives do hurt their overall cause. But there is one thing I have learned attending Colorado Wildlife Commission meetings, never underestimate the zealotry and outright hatred that many of these activists have for hunting and hunters.

I guess we will see, I just don’t see something like this gaining support over time. I’m more worried about smoke a pack a day bumper stickers.

The best thing I like to do with those kind of hater activists you mention is find out what conservation issues they care about and show them how I do it better, as a hunter and angler. It confuses them and they can’t put you in a box to attack. I turned my field into a bunchgrass prairie with endangered plants, I put nest boxes up for endangered birds, I supported the wolves coming back into my state, I write testimonies for clean water and better stewardship, volunteer with non hunting conservation groups, advocate for public land, use copper ammo, etc. When you point out how you care about some of the issues they care about the walls start to drop and meaningful conversations happen. Some are hard headed and already have their minds made up, but others might view it as a positive interaction with a hunter.

 

[dan.kirkpatrick]

pretty crazy that this will make the ballot,yet the petition on the paddle board tax supposedly will not get enough signatures to make the ballot they say, im sure it would get voted down if it makes the vote},even though the gas tax got voted down handily in the primary,gov kotax still pushin for any tax she can get currently.

 

[EKYHunter]

I posted the thread, FFS. Just as there is an extreme right, there is an extreme left. Democrats like me value public lands; fair distribution of wealth; separation between business, church and state; human rights over corporate privileges, that kind of radical politics. Rather than current extremes of polarization, why aren't our politicians racing to the middle? Plenty of room there.

What’s “fair distribution of wealth” look like?

 

[elkduds]

What’s “fair distribution of wealth” look like?

See "Ranchers shouldering the waste of mining" thread, posts #36 and 41.

 

[heybeerman]

Help Fund IP28 Film

Oregon Initiative Petition 28, which its proponents call the PEACE Act, would criminalize any intentional harm to an animal in the state of Oregon. In practice, that means hunting, fishing, ranching, and all meat production and processing become criminal acts. It means breeding dairy cows for...

www.howlforwildlife.org

I’m in Colorado, we’re going through the same kind of crazy. They’ve released wolves. We already have a problem with the deer population. That’s why the moose population is down in Canada because of the wolves. At least you can buy a tag there..
We don’t have 10% of the deer we did when I was a kid. people that have never hunted Make all the rules because there’s more of them in the big cities.

 

[Brute]

Just seen this on another forum.

https://oregonfreedomamendment.org/

 

[Mustangs Rule]

What’s “fair distribution of wealth” look like?

1952-1960 Here in America. Under "Ike" as President the wage of the average worker increased 45%. Education was so affordable to all. He was my first and still favorite President. Now he is rated the 5th greatest after Washington, Lincoln and the two Roosevelts.

"Of the people by the people for the people." This period continued on for some time but petered out. And became "of the corporation by the corporation for the corporation"

Ike warned us about this in his farewell address.

I am an old man, who grew up under Eisenhower. I have been to Omaha Beach, My uncle did not make it.

Ike felt such an incredible responsibility and dept to the men he sent into harm's way. His positions were solid and simple. Corporations owe America, not America owes corporations. He protected vast areas of wilderness. and with his 1960 Multiple Use- Sustained Yield Act, he officially mandated that the wealth of our National Forests belonged to all Americans not just the extraction industries.

 

[Mustangs Rule]

I’m in Colorado, we’re going through the same kind of crazy. They’ve released wolves. We already have a problem with the deer population. That’s why the moose population is down in Canada because of the wolves. At least you can buy a tag there..
We don’t have 10% of the deer we did when I was a kid. people that have never hunted Make all the rules because there’s more of them in the big cities.

Let me begin by firmly stating that I do not support one bit of "28" nor do I think it has even a tiny chance of passing. That said I understand why some people feel as they do. Opposite sides form each other.

The opposite side of the people that created this proposed bill are the most extreme anti-predator hunters, some of which have crossed a line into animal cruelty and quietly support "SSS" mindset and even turn a blind eye to the poisoners.

I myself take a middle ground. I am a lifelong now old hunter who also took advantage an extension of Eisenhower's National Defense Education Act and earned my degree in Biology costing $400 for four full years of tuition at a state university, and got half back upon graduation.

Hunting means a lot to me, that said I only hunt when my doing so matches " sound biology". Hunters always wishing to kill the biggest and best game animals, does not. What this quest does is it keeps robbing the herds genetic treasure chest and makes it weaker.

Now if you ask hunters what is causing our game animal populations to crash, most will say predators.

If you ask a biologist that question. most all will say predators too, but will say that habitat loss, climate change, and diseases are more responsible.

I would be happy to offer more if you like, and relax, 28 is going nowhere.

 

[bayoublaster7527]

Let me begin by firmly stating that I do not support one bit of "28" nor do I think it has even a tiny chance of passing. That said I understand why some people feel as they do. Opposite sides form each other.

The opposite side of the people that created this proposed bill are the most extreme anti-predator hunters, some of which have crossed a line into animal cruelty and quietly support "SSS" mindset and even turn a blind eye to the poisoners.

I myself take a middle ground. I am a lifelong now old hunter who also took advantage an extension of Eisenhower's National Defense Education Act and earned my degree in Biology costing $400 for four full years of tuition at a state university, and got half back upon graduation.

Hunting means a lot to me, that said I only hunt when my doing so matches " sound biology". Hunters always wishing to kill the biggest and best game animals, does not. What this quest does is it keeps robbing the herds genetic treasure chest and makes it weaker.

Now if you ask hunters what is causing our game animal populations to crash, most will say predators.

If you ask a biologist that question. most all will say predators too, but will say that habitat loss, climate change, and diseases are more responsible.

I would be happy to offer more if you like, and relax, 28 is going nowhere.

I think to wish away IP 28 as not a real threat and not take seriously is a very dangerous position for the hunting community. IP 28 has nothing to do with predators. The proponents have already stated they are not going away and will keep coming back. If they can gain a decent percentage of votes, it will be a boom to their future fundraising efforts. It will return in a lesser form as a simple hunting or trapping ban in Oregon and likely other states. We dismiss it at our own peril. Waiting until a threat has positioned for certain success is quite certainly way too late…….

Which is why Proposition 302:Right to hunt and fish is so critical here in Colorado. Randy has done some great media with Dan and team to get the word out. Thanks! Interestingly the same CatsArentTrophies Prop 127 anti-hunting folks in Colorado are lining up against 302.

It is always interesting to me how the anti-hunting crusaders use disagreements in predator management as a justification to make sweeping permanent bans on harvest of certain species. To me this just completely flies in the face of adaptive wildlife management.