By Kim Cooley, Outdoor Skills Trainer – WDNR Bureau of Law Enforcement
This article first appeared in Wisconsin Waterfowl Association’s November 2019 Volunteer Newsletter
The Wisconsin DNR, Pheasants Forever, and National Wild Turkey Federation have partnered up to provide a Mentor Certification training on January 9th, 2020 at 6:00 pm at the Green Bay DNR Office.
This free training will last 2-3 hours, and by attending you will receive liability coverage when acting as a hunting/fishing mentor under the guidelines, similar to the insurance coverage for the safety programs. We will be discussing conservation funding, declining hunter numbers, and strategies for recruiting new adults and families to help counter this trend.
Space is limited based on facility size, so RSVP to me is required – (920) 360-2361 or kimberly.cooley@wisconsin.gov. Feel free to forward this invitation to others you think may be interested as this training is open to anyone. If the demand is high, we can schedule additional training’s as needed.
If you are interested in this certification but are unable to attend this date or location, please let me know. We can look at other times/locations based on demand.
It is a commonly held misconception that simply completing a “mentor background check” or mentoring at a Learn to Hunt or Hunt for Food program automatically comes with liability insurance. This is not the case, unless the specific conservation organization (such as the club or NWTF) provides this insurance. Individuals who receive this certificate and training, however, will be covered under the basic conditions specified above.
I look forward to hearing back from you if you are interested and answering any questions you may have. If I do not know the answer right away, I can contact the NWTF/PF rep and get an answer for you.
