The IHEA-USA (International Hunter Education Association—USA)— announces the beginning of their 50th-year celebration.

For half a century, the International Hunter Education Association - USA has been working closely with state fish and wildlife leaders and hunter educators to deliver a complete, well-produced curriculum teaching all new hunters in the United States safe hunting practices. Having witnessed the graduation of over 41 million students since Hunter Education’s inception in 1949, the IHEA-USA is excited to celebrate this semicentennial success.

“We are grateful to those original Hunter Safety Coordinators that had the foresight to form a cohesive governing body that would connect educators and their programs across all 50 states”, Executive Director Alex Baer stated. “This represents the sort of thinking we will continue as we maintain our drive to collaboratively prevent hunting accidents through educational opportunities with all our partners. We are moving into the next 50 years with charged excitement about the new programs and services that the IHEA-USA is going to bring to the states furthering firearms safety. We will have a lot to celebrate this year as we modernize our approach to move this organization forward through the next 50 years, setting the stage for safe hunting and safe firearms ownership in the United States.”

As IHEA-USA celebrates this milestone, watch for new and innovative programs and initiatives to emerge from this time-tested organization. To stay up to date on organizational developments and news, sign-up for the IHEA-USA newsletter at IHEA-USA.org.

For more information on this release, contact Leaha Thomas leaha@boltstrategy.com or Mike Thomas mike@boltstrategy.com.

About the IHEA-USA: The International Hunter Education Association – USA (IHEA-USA) is the professional hunter education association affiliated with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service hunter education programs. These programs employ 55,000 instructors, many of whom are volunteers, teaching hunting and shooting safety and responsibilities throughout the United States.