WA Legislative Report
By Mark Pidgeon
President, Hunters Heritage Council
Washington Hunters Urged To Get Involved In State Politics
I took this headline directly from an outstanding online editorial written by Andy Walgamott of Northwest Sportsman Magazine of the exact same name. The editorial focused on how hunters are losing opportunities, and the only way we are going to stop our rights form being taken away is by getting politically involved. They quoted two (2) people specifically in this
editorial — Brian Lynn from the Sportsmen’s Alliance, a Spokane resident, and former WA State House Legislator and HHC Hall of Fame member Brian Blake. I am going to take some quotes from Brian Blake as contained in that editorial:
“The entire house is up this year and half the Senate,” notes Brian Blake. “Every seat matters.” He should know. He’s a former state legislator from Aberdeen who represented Washington’s South Coast before being voted out of office during 2020’s Republican sweep of the region. Blake foresees another wave election building this fall and advises sportsmen harness it. “Hunters should be door‐belling for candidates and marching in parades with candidates. Work to elect legislators who can stop the anti‐hunting agenda,” he says. A Democrat and multi‐year Hunters Heritage Council Legislator of the Year), Blake was a backstop in Olympia on hunting as well as gun laws (he’s an NRA Life Endowment Member).
“Majorities matter, I am no longer there to protect our heritage,” Blake states. “Hunters / Conservationists need to work for the future of our heritage or not. It is their call.”
“Hunters have one chance. Will they get out on the ground and work for pro‐hunting/conservation candidates from August through the election?”
Blake asks. “Elections and hunting season happen simultaneously, and hunters need to participate in both if we are to retain our heritage.”
The new animal‐rights (AR) umbrella group, Washington Wildlife First, is very well‐funded and well‐organized, and they are a threat to our hunting heritage. Hunters have to be vigilant at all three (3) levels; the Legislative level, the Commission level, and the Electioneering level. The HHC is the political arm of the hunting community with their lobbyist in Olympia. HHC
has a perfect record of killing every anti‐hunting bill every year of their existence. They have done the work in the Legislative arena. It would be great if the HHC had pro‐hunting majorities to work with. Brian Blake hit the nail on the head — majorities matter! We in the hunting community need to work hard to elect pro‐hunting legislators and put the AR community on the defensive.
The Commission fight looks tough with the three (3) new radical anti‐hunting Commissioners appointed by Governor Inslee and combined with rabidly anti‐hunting Commissioner Lorna Smith; the prospects look even darker. Getting involved in electing pro‐hunting candidates solves this problem too. The State Senate is the people’s check and balance against the Governor. Right now, we have an AR person as Chair of the Senate Natural Resources Committee. Elections can change that. We can bring these radical Commissioners before the state senate
and remove them.
This brings me back to my main point — Hunters need to get involved with electioneering! We all need to get involved this fall and work for pro‐hunting candidates. Whether you doorbell for them, make phone calls for them, or send them a contribution — help them in some way!
The Three T’s
I have been involved in the political process for 46 years, and I can tell you it takes three “T’s” to win a campaign; “Time,” “Talent,” and “Treasure.” Pro‐hunting candidates need volunteer hours to put up signs, doorbell, and other tasks. They need your “Time,” the first “T.” If you are an outstanding graphic artist, have special press skills, or have outstanding fundraising skills, pro‐hunting candidates can use your “Talent,” the second “T.” Finally, pro‐hunting candidates need money — a lot of it — in order to win their races. They need your “Treasure,” the third “T.”
As Brian Blake said, every seat matters, and this should be a wave election. We should fare very well this election. Get involved. Re‐read the Blake quotes. Don’t get discouraged by the AR groups, we will win.
“We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island, or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by
the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God’s good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old.”
‐‐ Winston Churchill
“All that is necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.”
‐‐ Edmund Burke
