Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is recognizing hunter and bowhunter education instructors at the annual Region One Instructor Workshop on March 2 at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell.
A total of 34 Instructors will receive service awards ranging from five to 35 years of service. All service award recipients receive a plaque.
All instructors are volunteers for FWP. They provide safety, ethics, and firearms and archery equipment handling training to young students across Montana. In Region One, throughout Northwest Montana, more than 300 instructors train about 2,000 students each year, according to FWP.
Here’s a list of this year’s award winners:
35-year Hunter Education Award: Jim Mershon, Trout Creek
20-year Hunter Education Awards: Monty Long, Kalispell; William Zizz, Kalispell
15-year Hunter Education Awards: Andy Breland, West Plummer, and Steve White, all of Kalispell; Jerry Shively, Thompson Falls; Emery Tegelberg, Arlee
10-year Hunter Education Awards: Jarek Bernt, Marvin Bernt, Janell Plummer, Meaghan White, and Wally Wilkinson, all of Kalispell; Dale Jorgenson, Bigfork; Tony Shaw, Libby; Gary Shorey, Thompson Falls; Megan Strom, Eureka; Germaine White, Polson; Judd Strowbridge, Charlo
5-year Hunter Education Awards: Bill Archie, Laura Stafford, Quianna Feigel of Kalispell; Michael Robertson, Columbia Falls; Albert Cooper, Thompson Falls; Ellisa Hedman, Trout Creek; Robin Jenkins, Bigfork; Josh Myers, Trout Creek;
25-year Bowhunter Education Award: Jim Nesladek, Polson
20-year Bowhunter Education Award: Ben Rossetto, Kalispell
15-year Bowhunter Education Award: Wes Plummer, Kalispell
10-year Bowhunter Education Award: Ron Hawkinson, Joseph Rocheleau, Gary Shorey, all of Thompson Falls
5-year Bowhunter Education Award: Bob Upton