CHEYENNE, Wyo. — On Feb. 12, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) and the Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) announced that Wyoming teachers can now receive a license endorsement to teach hunter education in the classroom.
“Hunting, fishing and natural resource conservation is embedded in Wyoming’s culture,” PTSB executive director Brendan O’Connor said in a statement. “Providing this opportunity allows qualified teachers to teach these foundations to students across the state during the school year so they will become good stewards of the state’s bounty.”
According to WGFD, the hunter education teaching license is the final step in a three-year, joint effort by the Wyoming State Board of Education and State Superintendent of Public Instruction to provide hunter education in schools as recommended by the Firearm and Hunter Education Joint Resolution.
Hunter education classes can be offered during class hours or in after-school programs, allowing students to receive a hunter education certification. Certified Game and Fish teachers and those approved by the school district can instruct hunter education. All instructors must comply with Wyoming regulations.
“Bringing hunter education into schools is about more than just teaching students how to hunt,” Game and Fish Chief of Education and Communications Nish Goicolea said via press release. “It is about instilling a conservation ethic in our students, teaching wildlife identification, fostering recognition and application of wilderness and firearm safety in and out of the field and cultivating a legacy of responsible conservationists for generations to come.”
Teachers interested in earning an endorsement in hunter education must meet and maintain Game and Fish hunter education instructor certification requirements and submit the proper documentation to PTSB.
This license endorsement is not limited to teachers. Community members can also learn how to become a volunteer instructor.
