PETA just poured money into Oregon to criminalize hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming in a single ballot measure.
They are 17,000 signatures away from making it a real vote.
Here's what happens to Oregon the moment this passes.
What Oregon IP28 Actually Does to Hunters and Farmers
32-year-old David Michelson teaches school part-time in Portland, and he is the man trying to criminalize hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming in Oregon – all at once.
His vehicle is Initiative Petition 28, or IP28, dressed up with the name the "PEACE Act."
That stands for People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions.
Oregon law currently exempts hunting, fishing, trapping, and farming from its animal cruelty statutes.
IP28 removes every one of those exemptions.
Every licensed hunter in Oregon becomes an animal abuser overnight.
Every angler.
Every cattle rancher.
Every commercial fisherman working the Oregon coast.
Pest control operators face criminal charges too.
The Oregon Farm Bureau called it "an extreme, overly broad measure that criminalizes normal, humane and necessary activities."
The Oregon Hunting Ban That PETA Admits It Doesn't Expect to Win
This isn't a grassroots uprising from concerned Oregonians.
Paid signature gatherers are pulling $25 an hour – bankrolled by PETA and Direct Action Everywhere.
Michelson has already told anyone who asked what the real plan is.
He's not expecting to win in 2026.
"We are aware that it's unlikely 50% of Oregonians are ready right now to move away from killing animals," he said.
The goal is to get it on the ballot, normalize the idea, and return in four years with more money and more signatures.
Oregon women's suffrage took six ballot attempts before passing in 1912.
That's the playbook he's running.
One election cycle at a time, they're working to take over your state's food supply and outdoor heritage.
The same core initiative failed to gather enough signatures in 2022 and 2024.
This time, with paid circulators and national cash behind it, the campaign has already crossed 100,000 signatures toward the 117,173 needed by July 2.
Oregon Hunting and Fishing Generate 1.9 Billion Dollars That IP28 Would Wipe Out
Nearly one million Oregonians would face criminal prosecution under IP28.
That's 330,000 licensed hunters, more than 500,000 licensed anglers, and the workers and owners tied to Oregon's 37,000 farms and ranches.
The economic hit is $1.9 billion in annual hunting and fishing activity – gone.
The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife runs on a $180 million annual budget, and hunters and anglers carry 45 to 55 percent of it through license fees and federal excise taxes on sporting gear.
Senator David Brock Smith, Republican from Port Orford, put it on the record: "The General Fund, or Oregon's taxpayer dollars, makes up only 10% of ODFW's budget – nowhere close to the amount needed to operate the agency and benefit Oregon's wildlife."
The people screaming to protect Oregon's wildlife just drafted a law that defunds the agency keeping Oregon's wildlife alive.
Without regulated hunting, deer populations explode, destroy habitat, spread disease, and die by the thousands from starvation.
The Oregon Hunters Association's Levi Barrera said it straight: "If you take away hunting, there will be an out-of-control effect on the population."
Senator David Brock Smith Is Fighting Oregon IP28 in the Legislature
Senator Smith is not being polite about IP28.
He co-chairs the Oregon Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus alongside Democratic Senator Anthony Broadman from Bend – which tells you how broad the opposition actually is.
Broadman has gone public calling out that IP28 would outlaw locally-raised food at farmers markets and force Oregon restaurants to truck in meat from out of state.
Smith is asking every hunter and angler in Oregon to register and show up in November to hand IP28 the largest ballot defeat in Oregon history.
That's the goal if it qualifies.
The immediate goal is making sure it doesn't.
They Forgot Oregon Has Nine Native American Tribes
Oregon is home to nine federally recognized Native American Tribes, all holding hunting and fishing rights through treaty obligations – some of which predate Oregon's statehood.
IP28 carves out zero exemptions for tribal members.
A Portland substitute teacher's ballot petition would turn Native Americans into criminals for practicing traditions protected by federal treaties older than the state itself.
The coalition against IP28 includes the Oregon Farm Bureau, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Oregon Cattlemen's Association, Backcountry Hunters and Anglers, Ducks Unlimited, and Safari Club International.
That is not a partisan alliance.
The Oregon Hunting Ban Playbook California Already Used in 1990
Oregon is not where this ends.
Since 1990, anti-hunting ballot initiatives have passed in at least 11 states.
California banned mountain lion hunting by voter initiative in 1990 – not through the legislature, where ranchers, biologists, and tribal representatives have a voice, but through a ballot box where an emotional one-sentence summary hides what the law actually does.
Colorado saw its own version in 2024 – a mountain lion hunting ban that pulled 45 percent of the vote before going down.
Sonoma County, California just crushed a factory farm ban 85 to 15.
These groups don't need to win every time.
They need the numbers to keep climbing.
Oregon is their test case – the state where they prove you can put hunting, fishing, and farming on trial before voters who've never set foot on a ranch.
If IP28 lands on the ballot and pulls 35 or 40 percent, the national animal rights machine declares victory, raises another $5 million, and shows up in Colorado, Washington, and Montana with the same petition.
The signature deadline is July 2.
They're close.
If this works in Oregon, they won’t stop there.
Sources:
- Oregon Hunters Association, "Initiative Petition 28 (the PEACE Act)," oregonhunters.org, February 2026.
- Oregon Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus, "Oregon Legislative Sportsmen's Caucus Oppose Initiative Petition 28," Tillamook County Pioneer, February 2026.
- Christopher Bancroft, "A Brief History of the Anti-Hunting Playbook," MeatEater Conservation News, January 2025.
- AG Professionals, "Oregon Initiative 28 (IP28) is a deceptive attack on agriculture," agpros.com, 2025.
- Willamette Week, "Only Two Groups Have Submitted Signatures for 2026 Ballot Initiatives," January 2026.
