Northwest Montana hunter, bowhunter, instructors honored
Multiple Hunter and Bowhunter Education Instructors from Sanders County received service awards from Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks during the annual Region 1 Instructor Workshop, which was held on March 2 at Flathead Valley Community College in Kalispell. A total of 34 instructors received service awards ranging from 5 to 35 years of service. All service award recipients received a plaque and additional awards included an engraved knife for 10 years of service and a FWP belt buckle for 20 years of service. A number of other awards were also presented.
Highlights this year include:
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 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
All Hunter and Bowhunter Education Instructors are volunteers for FWP. They provide safety, ethics, and firearms and archery equipment handling training to young students across Montana. In Region 1 (northwest Montana) more than 300 instructors train about 2,000 students each year.