BY ANDY WALGAMOTT, NORTHWEST SPORTSMAN MAGAZINE
In the wake of a recently failed attempt to bring a ban on fishing and hunting in Oregon to a public vote, one of the state’s two gubernatorial candidates is calling for a constitutional amendment that would enshrine both.
Senator Christine Drazan (R-Canby) yesterday 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.
“Oregon should not be the testing ground for extreme measures that threaten affordability, local food production, consumer choice and the thousands of jobs connected to putting food on our tables. Activities like farming, ranching, hunting and fishing are a part of our heritage, our economy and our everyday lives. It’s time to stop playing defense,” Drazan said in a press release.
It’s a reaction to Initiative Petition 28, which in late July failed the second of two signature validation checks performed by the Secretary of State’s Office and ended up roughly 13,000 names short of qualifying for the November ballot.
If IP 28 had passed, it 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. It would not have exempted tribal fishing and hunting.
The petition was always unlikely to be approved, but it has galvanized hunting, fishing, farming and ranching interests to protect our shared ways of life.
“It simply is not enough to oppose the next ballot measure. We have a responsibility to be proactive and give voters the chance to say once and for all that these activities deserve constitutional protections,” Drazan said while announcing the bill at White’s Country Meats in Gresham. She was surrounded by fellow Republicans and the president of the Oregon Farm Bureau.
IP 28 came from animal rights absolutists and was also opposed by all 37 Democrats in the state legislature, as well as Governor Tina Kotek, Drazan’s opponent this fall.
In a statement sent to Portland TV station KGW, a Kotek campaign spokesman reiterated her opposition to IP 28, saying it was “the wrong thing to do for Oregon” but also said Drazan’s proposed constitutional amendment “feels like political theater.”
“Amending the constitution requires a thoughtful approach and conversations with Oregonians across the state,” added Federico Araujo, according to KGW.
At Tuesday’s gathering in Gresham, Oregon Senate Minority Leader Bruce Starr (R-Dundee) said the response to IP 28 should be to protect lawful fishing, hunting, the responsible management of wildlife, farming and “sound agricultural standards.”
“This is not a Republican issue, this is not a Democrat issue. It’s an Oregon issue. I’ve served with Democrats who are passionate hunters, I know Democrats who spend their weekends fishing Oregon’s rivers, and across our state families of every political persuasion make their living farming and ranching. They may vote differently, but they share the same deep respect for the outdoors, for conservation, and for the freedom to pass these traditions onto their children, and that’s why I believe this constitutional amendment has the ability to unite Oregonians, not divide them,” Starr said.
Drazan’s draft bill is more expansive than one prefiled for the 2025 legislative session by Senator David Brock Smith (R-Port Orford), who was also on hand at her announcement yesterday. Senate Joint Resolution 13 was introduced and referred to committee but didn’t go anywhere.
While KGW reported that roughly half the states now have constitutional protections for fishing and hunting, bipartisan efforts in Washington to enshrine both haven’t made much progress in recent years. Here’s hoping the shock of IP 28 and the potential impact it would have had on how Oregonians feed themselves spurs state lawmakers and the public to do so.
