A few years ago I would have said groups like PETA would never get any legislation passed that would impact the outdoorsman. We only have to look to our own state to see that this isn't true anymore. The recent passage of the anti trapping initiative and the ban on cougar hunting clearly shows that PETA and other groups with extreme animal rights do have a receptive audience if they choose their battle carefully and nibble around the edges. I know PETA wasn't one of the sponsors of the initiatives but I have to believe that many of its members were involved in the promotion of it.
A major issue we have to contend with in WA is the initiative process. Adams and Jefferson would roll over in their graves if they knew that our Republic had states that allowed a pure democracy election process, but I digress. The problem with the Initiative process in WA is that it doesn't provide a balance of power. During the anti-trapping election, every county east of the cascades voted against it yet it still passed. I believe that I read that the 5 most populated counties all lie in the Pudget Sound region and together they can pass any initiative even if all the other counties vote against it based on the imbalance of population. That is a scary imbalance of power. Combine that fact with the higher population of liberal environmentalists then anywhere else in the State and you can begin to see our delima. Keep talking sense to the people you meet. They need to hear both sides of the story. Mike
