Jake: Oregon voters would be insane to pass this hunting and fishing ban — I’m worried Washington could be next

I was never much of a fisherman growing up. We hit the local lakes and streams occasionally, never caught much, but always had a good time. I’m still not great at it — but I’ve grown to genuinely love the craft.

Part of that is because of the movie “A River Runs Through It.” If you haven’t seen it, stop what you’re doing and put it on your list. Robert Redford directed it, it’s set in Missoula, Montana, and it will make you want to drop everything and learn to fly fish.

Fair warning: fly fishing is hard. But stick with it. It’s something you can do your whole life, and it’s good for both the body and the soul.

But back to this crazy law in Oregon.

Activists have collected enough signatures to get something called the PEACE Act on the ballot — People for the Elimination of Animal Cruelty Exemptions. Translation: hunting and fishing would become a crime in Oregon. Even catch-and-release, apparently, because of the trauma to the fish. The lead petitioner said he’s really just trying to nudge a cultural shift. I hope he fails spectacularly. And as far-fetched as it sounds, this is exactly the kind of thing I could see bubbling up in Washington, too.

Hunting and fishing culture is built on respect, not cruelty

Here’s what these activists fundamentally misunderstand: hunting and fishing culture is the opposite of animal cruelty. Most people are completely disconnected from where their food actually comes from — it just materializes in a grocery store or shows up in a subscription box on their doorstep. But hunters and fishermen? They are almost universally people with a deep, genuine respect for nature and the animals that live in it.

My father-in-law was obsessed with fishing. He loved it, and he passed that passion down to my boys, his grandsons. Even though he’s gone now, my kids will be fishing with his gear for the rest of their lives. The same rods and reels that his hands held will be in their hands. That’s something.

My boys have really taken to it, too. We keep it simple, dig up worms from the backyard, and pull in as many bluegill as we can handle. Most of what we catch, we release. The fish aren’t big or impressive, but the memories we’re making are, and we’ll hold onto those forever.

It would be a shame — a real shame — if people in Oregon or Washington were cheated out of that.

I’ll leave you with Norman Maclean, whose words from “A River Runs Through It” say it better than I ever could: “Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it. The river was cut by the world’s great flood and runs over rocks from the basement of time. On some of the rocks are timeless raindrops. Under the rocks are the words, and some of the words are theirs. I am haunted by waters.”

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