BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
Turnabout is fair play.
Less than a month after an initiative petition that aimed to outlaw fishing and hunting in Oregon failed to get enough valid signatures to make the fall ballot, a bid to enshrine those same rights and others by amending the state constitution has cleared an early hurdle.
With enough sponsorship signatures confirmed to have been turned in, the Secretary of State’s Elections Division yesterday requested the state Attorney General draft a ballot title so supporters can begin gathering signatures ahead of a potential November 2028 vote of the people.
“This is about protecting the people’s ability to continue the practices that have helped sustain Oregon communities for generations,” said chief petitioner Kari Goodheart about her Oregon Freedom Amendment. “Hunting, fishing, farming, ranching, trapping, growing food, caring for animals and managing wildlife are deeply connected to Oregon’s land, culture, food supply and way of life. The people should have a constitutional safeguard for these activities.”
The measure is officially known as Initiative Petition 2028-025, or IP 25. While numerically similar to IP 28, it’s anything but.
“The amendment seeks to protect the rights of Oregonians to hunt, fish, farm, trap, ranch, grow food, practice diligent animal husbandry, and participate in wildlife management,” the campaign’s website states. “The Oregon Freedom Amendment is intended to place these activities and traditions within the protections of the Oregon Constitution, recognizing the importance of hunting, fishing, agriculture, ranching, trapping, food production, responsible animal husbandry, and wildlife management to Oregon’s communities, families, economy, and natural-resource heritage.”
According to the site, the amendment’s name, Freedom, stands for the Fundamental Right to Engage in Ethical Domestic and Outdoor Management.
The site also includes the text of the proposed constitutional amendment, information on how to volunteer and donate, and contact info.
Failed IP 28 would have lifted animal cruelty exemptions around lawful practices such as fishing, hunting, trapping, animal husbandry, the slaughter of livestock and poultry, rodeos and scientific research involving animals, as well as eliminated fishing and hunting licenses had it passed this November.
There was always a low likelihood of that, and ultimately it never qualified for the ballot after falling about 13,000 signatures short of the 117,000-plus required.
But the pendulum its supporters pushed into motion has now firmly swung to the offense for those whose ways of life were threatened by it.
Earlier this month, Oregon gubernatorial candidate Senator Christine Drazan (R-Canby) unveiled a draft bill that would “declare a right to hunt, fish, gather wild foods and raise animals or crops” if state lawmakers next session agree to put it to voters in November 2028.
