America’s hunting traditions are under attack.

Driven by extreme, radical “ animal rights” activists who want to ban hunting and fishing as we know it, these attacks are spreading in state legislatures around the country. Family traditions that include the right to provide for ourselves are at risk. An idea that our Founding Fathers once would have seen as “unthinkable” is now headed toward the mainstream.

In 2020, Oregon activists fell just shy of the required signatures to send a criminal ban on hunting and fishing to the ballot for voters. Those same extreme activists are back again pushing the same ballot initiative , which, in their own words, “would remove the exemption for hunting, fishing, and trapping … meaning that any practice that involves the intentional injury of an animal would be criminalized.” Washington and New Mexico are also considering similar attacks on our hunting way of life.

Imagine an America where parents and children are criminalized for partaking in these sacred traditions. It’s tough to envision an America where a father would face criminal charges for passing his rifle down to his son so they could head into the forest to hunt white-tailed deer together for the first time. But this is the dream for some liberal activists.

The International Order of T. Roosevelt is stepping into the arena and fighting back against this extremism. We have a plan to take on these mobs and stand up for our hunting heritage and the North American Model of Conservation.

Our organization’s namesake, Teddy Roosevelt, had a vision for American conservation that defines our modern hunting and conservation system — a system upheld by the idea that conservation efforts are crucial to our hunting way of life and that hunters are crucial to successful conservation. In other words, hunting is conservation.

Did you know that 75 cents out of every dollar we spend on conservation comes directly from our hunters? As activists and politicians chip away at the foundation of our sport by ramming through senseless restrictions and bans, our ability to protect endangered wildlife habitats is threatened.

We cannot afford to sit idly by and let others erode our rights. It is imperative that hunters get in front of the issue now — by the time your state becomes Oregon, it’s too late.

Establishing a constitutional right to hunt in states around the country is the best preemptive defense against these anti-hunting forces pushing legislation and litigation to restrict or ban hunting. Requiring them to amend their state constitutions makes their implementation of anti-hunting policies and rulings nearly impossible. Currently, there are 23 states that have a right to hunt enshrined in the state constitution. There are some significant states, including some led by conservatives for decades, that have no such protections. The time to act is now. We can’t afford to wait until our cherished traditions are under assault.

The anti-hunting opposition is extremely well funded. Organizations like the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals , the Humane Society of the United States , and the Animal Legal Defense Fund all cling to common goals that undermine the North American Model of Conservation and result in restricting or banning access to hunting. These groups are organized and motivated, and they will spend millions of dollars to organize and activate their supporters against efforts like ours in the name of “animal rights.”

Hunters need to stay vigilant and organized. The International Order of T. Roosevelt is already at work in Florida and Iowa, leading efforts to pass constitutional amendments preserving the right to hunt. We launched advertising campaigns in Ohio and South Dakota to target like-minded hunters so they, too, are aware their rights are at risk. Successfully securing a right to hunt in every state will play a direct role in ensuring we can protect hunting for the future.

Preserving our pastimes is an important part of preserving our great country. Our Founding Fathers lived off the land and passed hunting traditions down from generation to generation. The fight against these senseless threats to hunting is just getting started, but the future of conservation depends on our success. We’re up for the fight.

Luke Hilgemann is the executive director of the International Order of T. Roosevelt, a group working to protect our hunting heritage and at-risk wildlife habitats before they are gone.