Friday, April 11, 2008

Law made headlines, but West Virginia schools have had hunter-safety courses for a long time

A few weeks ago, West Virginia Gov. Joe Manchin signed a law calling for schools to offer hunter-safety courses, an attempt to stem the decline in the number of hunters in the state, part of a national trend that we noted last September. The bill prompted a front-page story in The New York Times, but the law won't really change much because such courses already were being offered in many schools, reports Anna Sale of West Virginia Public Broadcasting. "Last year, more than 1,600 students in 22 counties completed the course during the school day or immediately after," Sale reports. "It’s typically offered in middle schools during the spring."

The state's Department of Natural Resources, which is selling about 40,000 fewer hunting licenses than it did 10 years ago, wants to get more courses in schools. According to Tim Coleman, who runs the DNR hunter safety program, concerns about safety have not kept the courses out of schools. Instead in the past, local superintendents have said demands on instructional time prevent adding such courses, but Coleman said the new law could change that. "A lot of time we have to convince them that it’s worthwhile to get it and that eliminates all that," Coleman said. "Now they have, they will make room for us."

West Virginia is not alone in its effort to attract young hunters. "In the last three years, at least 17 other states have passed laws aimed at increasing the ranks of young hunters, including 15 states that have taken the opposite approach of West Virginia," Sale reports. "They created hunter apprenticeship programs that reduce the safety training and license requirements for youth if they hunt with a licensed adult."(Read more)

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