Alaska districts have three weeks to apply for hunter education money

Alaska school districts have three weeks to apply for state money to teach hunter education, with $500,000 available and a cap of $50,000 per district. Applications close at 5 pm on Sept. 18.

Fifteen districts took the money last year. It pays to train adult instructors through Fish and Game's hunter education program, and to run the course itself: six to eight hours online with a written test, then a four- or five-hour field day at a range where students demonstrate proficiency with a .22 rifle or an air rifle.

The state grants exist partly because federal money got complicated. The U.S. Department of Education determined that schools running hunter education and similar outdoor-skills programs could lose federal funding under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act. Congress amended the law in October 2023 to exempt hunting and shooting sports.

Districts should hear back Oct. 2, with appeals due Oct. 16 and final awards the next day. The grants run through the end of June.