07/27/2026
IP28 IS DEAD, WHATS NEXTā¦
Read this!!!!!
Last Friday, the Oregon Secretary of State's office confirmed exactly what we were hoping for: Initiative Petition 28 (IP28) fell well short of the required signatures.
Of the 142,000+ signatures submitted to the state, final verification cleared only 104,262 valid signaturesāmore than 13,000 short of what was needed to qualify for the ballot.
Like IP13 and IP3 before it, this was an attempt by animal extremists to criminalize hunting, fishing, and farming in Oregon. They continue to fund these attacks because their ideology demands that hunting be stripped from the landscape entirely.
But this time, our collective defense completely choked out their momentum.
Starting in February, OHA launched a massive media blitz. We blanketed the airwaves, print, digital, news, and podcasts to expose the true, destructive reality of this measure. We educated everyday Oregonians, and it worked. Once people learned the truth, signature gatherers faced overwhelming pushback on the streets. We made it increasingly difficultāand eventually impossibleāfor them to get the signatures they needed.
You might wonder why you're just now hearing from me about this. I spent the weekend at our 2026 Chapter Summit at Diamond Lake. If you've ever been there, you know the cell service and Wi-Fi are practically non-existent. It wasn't conducive to sending updates, but it was the perfect place to get offline and focus on the important work ahead.
We brought our state office team together with chapter leaders from across Oregon. Our chapters are the heartbeat of OHA, and hearing their passion left me incredibly thankful. We talked about conservation projects, fundraising strategies, a brand-new website, a modernized CRM system to better serve our members, andāmost importantlyāthe long game.
In my last email, I promised you that OHA was building something bigger and preparing to go on the offensive. In that room at Diamond Lake, your state and chapter leadership made a firm, unified commitment to do exactly that.
We are done playing catch-up.
While IP28 is dead for 2026, we know these groups will be back with another iteration. We refuse to live in this exhausting, reactionary loop every election cycle. OHA is going to lead.
But hear me clearly on this: we are going to do this right.
Everyone in that room agreed we cannot afford to settle for a quick, easy answer or a rushed patch that ultimately fails us when it matters most. Your investment is too valuable to risk on flawed solutions. We are going to be meticulous, careful, and deliberate to ensure that whatever we build stands up to legal challenges and permanently anchors our hunting heritage.
In the coming weeks and months, you'll see the rollout of a protective framework specifically designed to secure our hunting heritage and our future once and for all.
Thank you for your membership, your investment, and your resolve. We are just getting started.
ā Todd Adkins
Life Member
Executive Director
