Annual event honors hunting instructors

Today, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks will honor long-serving volunteer instructors in its hunter and bowhunter education courses.

The event will begin at noon during the agency’s annual instructor workshop in Flathead Valley Community College’s Arts and Technology building.

Among the 44 instructors being honored, Leonard Howke of Whitefish will receive a 50-year service award, one of only a handful given in the program’s history. Donald Garner of Kalispell and Paul Murphy of Columbia Falls will receive 45-year service awards.

In the bowhunter program, Tim Bartholomew of Kalispell and Tim Thier of Trego will be honored for their 20-year stints training new archers.

In Northwest Montana, more than 300 volunteer instructors train about 2,000 students each year. They provide safety, ethics and equipment handling training.