ADCNR's Outreach Prepares Public for Outdoor Adventures

By DAVID RAINER, Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources

Although more dog days of late summer are still ahead, it won’t be long before an abundant adventures will be available in Alabama’s great outdoors. The Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources’ (ADCNR) Wildlife and Freshwater Fisheries (WFF) Division is providing a wealth of information and opportunities to help prepare everyone for the best experience possible once fall arrives. ()

Justin Grider, WFF’s R3 Assistant Chief, said every program on www.outdooralabama.com/Academy has a full slate of learning opportunities for outdoors activities and a link to On-Demand Learning. R3 is designed to promote recruitment, retention and reactivation.

“If you go to the Outdoor Alabama Academy webpage, you’ll find all the programs for fishing, firearms, hunting and trapping,” Grider said. “The new On-Demand Learning hub is recorded webinars or actual classes you can go in and take online. As more webinars are recorded, they will be posted on that hub.”

One On-Demand series that will begin soon is the “Discover Alabama’s Public Lands” virtual workshops. These will provide participants a look at all that is available to hunters, anglers and adventurers on land that provides access to all citizens. Access is one of the largest hurdles for people who want to pursue outdoor opportunities. The workshops will be held each Thursday from 6-7:15 p.m. starting August 27 and ending October 1, 2026. The workshops are free but registration is required.

“That series will obviously focus on public land in Alabama with context,” Grider said. “There are five different workshops, each a different topic. The series starts in north Alabama and works its way all the way down to the Gulf. This should be valuable for anybody who is interested in access. It’s a great chance to learn what opportunities are public – where you can go, where you can hunt, where you can hike, where you can fish, those sorts of things. The classes will also provide historical contexts about those places. Not only will they know where they can go, but they can also develop a deeper appreciation for the locations so they can be advocates and stewards for those places.”

Grider said the public lands classes follow a series done this past spring called “Homegrown Habitats,” which focused on habitat management for private landowners big and small.

“We specifically centered that class around wild turkeys in partnership with the National Wild Turkey Federation, so people could learn about gallinaceous species, birds that live on the ground – turkeys, grouse and quail,” he said. “The series explains how when you manage for gallinaceous species, it has a positive impact on everything else, from pollinators to deer, other wildlife including nongame species. Isabelle Bracell, Assistant R3 Coordinator, has done a great job administering and supporting this outreach effort.” Both series can be found at www.outdooralabama.com/OnlineLearningHub. 

New outreach features include webinars for fishing and hunting workshops, which have not been available before.

“Instead of having to go to an in-person class, if you have a really busy schedule, you and the family can join the webinar after dinner and learn the basics on how to fish and interact with fishing experts,” Grider said. “If you want to do an in-person class, we still have those. These are all opportunities to build skills at people’s convenience.

“We’re doing that in conjunction with some of the hunting workshops. We’ll have opportunities focused on species as well as other outdoor recreation. We’re excited about collaborating with our private lands biologists and species-specific biologists, a group overseen by Courtenay Conring, Assistant Chief of the Wildlife Section.”

The highly successful Hunter Safety Education Program (www.outdooralabama.com/hunting/HunterEd) is headed to each Bass Pro Shops store in Alabama. Hunter ed has been taught for more than 50 years and has aided in a significant reduction in hunting accidents in recent years. Sgt. Katie Burks, Senior R3 Coordinator, oversees the Hunter Education program, BOW (Becoming an Outdoors Woman) and NASP (National Archery in Schools Program). Lt. Bill Freeman is the R3 Supervisor who oversees operations and supports the program efforts of each R3 Coordinator. Grider said Lt. Freeman has been instrumental in forging new partnerships.

“We’re real excited that we are partnering with Bass Pro Shops, and we are making sure there are hunter education classes at all the Bass Pro Shops in Alabama,” Grider said. “We hope to grow that partnership with any other sporting goods or retailers interested in collaborating to provide those opportunities. We’re working with Cabela’s in the Huntsville area to make sure there’s a class up there too.

“We want to do this every year so it’s an annual event and everybody in those communities knows when those classes are happening so we can coordinate efforts with our volunteers in those areas. People who need the hunter education classes can put them on their calendars and plan their attendance. We’re hoping it’s something students and families look forward to each year.”

Other big news for the Hunter Safety Education Program is a partnership with the International Hunter Education Association (IHEA) to provide hunter ed graduates with access to special pricing on a variety of outdoors equipment.

ADCNR has become the second state agency in the nation to launch IHEA PathPerks, joining the Iowa Department of Natural Resources in giving newly certified hunter education graduates access to pro-level gear pricing from more than 200 outdoor brands during their first year in the field. Co-developed by IHEA-USA and Guidefitter, PathPerks can be used by Alabama graduates at no cost to the state, to the agency’s license revenue or to the student.

Hunter education has been mandatory in the state since 1993 for anyone born on or after August 1, 1977. 

“Alabama has been teaching hunter education since 1973, and we are proud of the strong foundation our courses provide in safety and ethics,” Burks said. “The greater challenge is helping students take the next step after they graduate a hunter education course. PathPerks provides meaningful support from the outdoor industry by giving new hunters access to discounts on the gear they need during their first season. This is at no cost to the state or the student.

“Completing the hunter ed course gives new hunters access to affordable gear, hands-on instruction and nearly 1 million acres of public land where they can put their new skills into practice.”

Grider said students will have one year after they complete the course to use the PathPerks program, and it might be beneficial for those who already have their hunter ed certification to take the hunter ed course again to take advantage of PathPerks. Those who complete the hunter ed course will receive an email from ADCNR with a link to access the PathPerks program.

“If you’ve already had the hunter ed course, it’s worth it to take it again for the educational content you’re getting as a refresher but also for access to this discount program,” he said. “That’s an exciting opportunity. These are great discounts. It’s a really good program. This was vetted by our staff before we decided to participate. People talk about the limiting factors to getting into hunting. Access is one of those things. Also, people feel like hunting gear can be cost-prohibitive, so this is an opportunity to make it a little less expensive and lower the cost of entry.

“With our programs, we want to make sure people know where to go. We want to make sure people have access to the gear and equipment they need with access to the places they need to participate in those activities and use those skills they are learning.”

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