Sacramento ???The Department of Fish and Game's (DFG) Hunter Education Program needs bilingual volunteer instructors to satisfy a diverse and growing demand for classes. These instructors help new hunters, including those who are part of California's Spanish-speaking population, receive the appropriate hunter safety training required by law.

"Our instructors provide an extremely important service and pass on the tradition of hunting to Californians of every age and background," said Hunter Education Program Coordinator Capt. Roy Griffith. "We need to make sure our education programs are accessible to people whose native language may not be English so that we can help all hunters have safe outdoors experiences."

Individuals interested in obtaining a hunting license in California are required to take hunter education training. To obtain a new license each year, hunters must have either previously held a license or have proof of completing a hunter education course in California or another state.

Since the introduction of mandatory hunter safety training in 1970, the number of people injured in hunting related accidents in California has dropped from an average of 163 per year to 22. During that same period, the number of people who died as a result of hunting related accidents decreased from 31 to two per year on average.

For more information contact the Hunter Education Program at (916) 653-1235.