HARRISBURG – A spike in federal grant money available to wildlife agencies is expanding opportunities for hunter education and outreach in Pennsylvania, and has resulted in the creation of two new positions the Pennsylvania Game Commission is seeking to fill.
The Wildlife Restoration Act of 1937, often referred to as the Pittman-Robertson Act or simply P-R, places an excise tax on firearms, ammunition and archery equipment at the manufacturers’ level. This landmark federal legislation has provided an important funding mechanism for wildlife agencies for decades. Much of the success in wildlife management nationwide can be traced to this funding source.
Recently, the sale of firearms and ammunition in the U.S. has reached an all-time high resulting in significant increases in funding available to wildlife agencies.
In response to the growth of these federal dollars, the Pennsylvania Game Commission has announced two new employment opportunities within the agency’s Hunter Education and Outreach Division.
As part of a new five-year Wildlife and Sport Fisheries Restoration grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the agency is expanding its hunter education; hunter recruitment, retention and reactivation; and shooting sports outreach efforts.
The first position is for a new Hunter Education Specialist. This is a contract position.
The second is for a new Wildlife Conservation Education Specialist (Shooting Sports Coordinator), which is a three-year, limited-term position.
Both positions will be integral to the anticipated growth in outreach and programming efforts that are planned as part of the federal grant agreement.
Hunter education will expand by offering more advanced training curriculums. Hunting outreach will be offering more youth and school-based recruitment programs, improving hunter-access opportunities and launching GoHuntPA, which is a strategic marketing effort targeting the large hunting audience in Pennsylvania.
Shooting sports outreach will continue the impressive growth of the National Archery in the Schools Program, add more school-based shooting sports programs and focus on the development of community-based shooting sports.
Both positions will be based out of the Game Commission’s Harrisburg headquarters.
To learn more about these and other employment opportunities go the Game Commission’s Web site at www.pgc.state.pa.us. On the toolbar located at the top of the homepage, hover over the “About Us” tab, then select “PGC Careers” from the dropdown menu.