Why It Matters: The future of hunting, fishing, and America’s outdoor traditions depends on more than recruitment. It hinges on smart conservation policy, access to quality land, and educating the next generation about their role on the landscape. Bringing basic hunter education to the classroom serves as an excellent avenue to support the next generation of sportsmen and women. It is the next generation of hunters and anglers that will help sustain the critical conservation funding needed to support our storied outdoor traditions for generations to come.
Highlights:
- After a multi-year effort, New Hampshire high schoolers will now be able to voluntarily enroll in Hunter Education for certification and for elective course credit.
- Earlier in 2025 HB 1122 was introduced in the House and ultimately got caught up in the House Education Commission’s issues and concerns with another education bill that was firearms training focused and demanded participation rather than allowing for voluntary participation. Both bills died in committee.
- Last week, the New Hampshire State Board of Education unanimously approved Hunter Education for high school students, grades 9-12, via the Learn Everywhere program.
The multi-year effort to bring Hunter Education – a top policy priority of the Congressional Sportsmen’s Foundation (CSF) – to New Hampshire schools may not have followed the traditional path of many CSF policy priorities, but it reached an important milestone last week. At the September 9, 2026, State Board of Education meeting, Commissioners unanimously approved the application to include New Hampshire Fish and Game Hunter Education curriculum in the Learn Everywhere program, paving the way for this important curriculum to soon become available to high school students across the Granite State.
As stated on the New Hampshire Department of Education official government page, “Learn Everywhere is an innovative approach to learning passed into law by the 2018 New Hampshire Legislature to capture existing student learning and create an ecosystem of additional learning opportunities for our students, wherever and whenever they occur.”
Throughout these efforts, past and present leaders in the New Hampshire Legislative Sportsmen’s Caucus, have championed legislation to bring hunter education into the classroom, most recently through HB 1122 this past session. Their combined efforts have allowed a dialogue to take place highlighting the many benefits the curriculum provides students with, beyond being certified in hunter education.
“The voluntary NH Fish & Game Hunter Education Learn Everywhere program in high school is a great way to introduce young Granite Staters to New Hampshire traditions and the natural beauty of the state,” said Democratic House Co-Chair Rep. Will Darby. “Programs like this, encouraging youth to explore the great outdoors, are a welcome contrast to the ever-increasing influence of AI and social media leading to the rise of anxiety and other mental health challenges among students.”
“As Chairman of the House Fish and Game and Marine Resources Committee, I’m thrilled to see the State Board of Education approve New Hampshire Fish and Game’s Hunter Education program through Learn Everywhere. Last year, we worked to advance legislation that would allow students to take Hunter Education in the schools. While that legislation did not ultimately become law, the goal was always more important than the particular path we took to get there,” said Republican House Caucus Co-Chair Rep. James Spillane. “Hunter Education teaches far more than the mechanics of hunting. It teaches firearm and outdoor safety, wildlife conservation, personal responsibility, ethics, and respect for our natural resources.”
“New Hampshire’s outdoors are a critical part of our economy and our way of life, and programs like Hunter Education help ensure our students learn to be responsible stewards of our environment. I’m glad students can now earn credit for taking these courses, and I look forward to seeing how they put their learning to good use to preserve New Hampshire’s outdoors for generations to come,” said Governors Sportsmen’s Caucus member Governor Kelly Ayotte.
After HB 1122 failed to move out of committee earlier this year, CSF and our partners immediately went to work to find alternative avenues to ensure students could have access to this important course. Bringing the Learn Everywhere option to the leadership of the New Hampshire Fish & Game, along with meeting and planning with the online course facilitators, CSF and our partners were able to put a viable plan into place for the Département of Education to consider and ultimately approve. CSF applauds Caucus leadership in New Hampshire and looks forward to working with legislative sportsmen’s caucus leaders in the Northeast and beyond to expand opportunities to share our time-honored traditions with the next generation of sportsmen and women. CSF would also like to thank our close partners at the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation for their collaborative leadership and unwavering support for this and many other CSF priorities over the years.