OREGON INITIATIVE SEEKS TO CRIMINALIZE HUNTING, FISHING, FARMING
AUGUST 4, 2023
The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation is issuing a warning about a radical animal rights ballot initiative effort underway in Oregon that would make it illegal to hunt, fish, trap and would subsequently frustrate and annul proven, scientific wildlife management, including the North American Wildlife Conservation Model.
Initiative Petition 3 (IP3) criminalizes injuring or intentionally killing animals, including utilizing breeding practices and raising/killing livestock for food. Originally intended for Oregon’s November 2022 election, proponents regrouped and filed a ballot initiative for the 2024 November general election. To qualify, they must deliver 112,020 signatures for verification to the Oregon secretary of state by July 8, 2024.
Proponents claimed they passed the 30,000-signature mark in mid-July. They received a recent influx of $110,000 in campaign donations allowing them to pay signature gatherers. Campaign finance reports show the financial backers are Owen Gunden ($50,000), a philanthropist seeking “ambitious animal rights,” the Karuna Foundation in Colorado ($50,000) and Friends of DxE ($10,000), a network of “activists working to achieve revolutionary social and political change for animals.”
If passed, the initiative would severely hamstring the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife in carrying out its mission to protect and enhance the state’s fish and wildlife and their habitats. Approximately 40 percent of ODFW’s budget is generated from hunting and fishing licenses and fees which are used to manage all wildlife species, not just those that are hunted. Fish populations would also be drastically impacted since the $203 million ODFW spends on fisheries and fish hatcheries would be cut off.
Proponents also ignore the importance of conservation funding generated by hunters. Federal excise taxes on guns, ammunition, archery equipment via the Pittman-Robertson Act generated more than $16 billion since its inception in 1937. A 2023 report also shines a spotlight on crucial conservation and economic funding generated by the firearm and ammunition industry. Combined with Dingell-Johnson Act excise taxes on fishing gear, that funding is returned to states, including Oregon, for various conservation, recreation and public access projects.
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https://www.rmef.org/elk-network/attention-oregon-initiative-seeks-to-criminalize-hunting-fishing-farming/