The Oregon Hunters Association has received a $50,000 donation from the National Shooting Sports Foundation to support the association’s campaign opposing an initiative petition that would, if passed by voters, outlaw hunting and fishing and severely restrict ranching in Oregon.
“We are incredibly grateful to NSSF for taking a clear stand against these out-of-state extremists who are hell-bent on destroying our way of life forever,” Todd Adkins, OHA’s executive director, said in a press release. “IP 28 proponents have one goal, to change Oregon by removing hunters from the landscape once and for all. We can’t let that happen.”
OHA will use the donation for digital media, community workshops and other efforts to highlight how hunters play a vital role in maintaining wildlife populations.
“This proposal (IP 28) is perhaps the most devastating idea ever conceived to destroy our highly successful model of wildlife conservation in America,” Lawrence G. Keane, NSSF senior vice president and general counsel, said in the press release. “Oregon was the recipient of over $20 million in wildlife restoration funds from excise taxes on firearms and ammunition in 2026, which would be subject to forfeit under IP 28. The damage to Oregon’s wildlife would be obvious, immediate and irreversible.”
IP 28 — The People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions (PEACE) Act — would make a crime “any activity — other than self-defense and veterinary practices — that intentionally injures, kills, or sexually violates a nonhuman animal.”
According to a summary from the Oregon Department of Justice in 2024, when state officials certified IP 28 and allowed supporters to start collecting the signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot, IP 28 would also make it a crime to kill mice or rats that infest your home.
To qualify for the November 2026 ballot, promoters need to gather 117,173 verified signatures by July 2.
The chief petitioner, David Michelson of Portland, told a Portland TV station recently that he had turned in about 105,000 signatures. State officials have not said how many signatures have been verified.
Michelson told Willamette Week he doesn’t think IP 28 would pass this year if it makes it on the ballot.
He said his goal is to gain momentum for the idea — that getting the measure on the ballot, even if it fails, will create a foundation for future success.
OHA, which was started in the early 1980s, has 26 chapters in the state, including one in Baker County.
“OHA has a long track record of advocacy success and is uniquely positioned within Oregon to lead the fight to stop this initiative,” Keane said. “No organization is better equipped or more trusted by Oregon’s hunting and conservation community to take on this fight.”
“We will battle like there is no tomorrow to guarantee our wildlife management remains in the hands of agency professionals and dedicated conservationists, not carpet-bagging ideologues trying to change who and what we are,” Adkins said. “The NSSF partnership will help OHA combat animal extremist propaganda and protect hunting long-term.”
© 2026 the Baker City Herald (Baker City, Ore.). Visit www.bakercityherald.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
