I received an envelope in the mail the other day from the NYS DEC. Inside was a window sticker for my car. The NYS Hunter Education Program (HEP) is celebrating its 75th anniversary. Congratulations!

New York was the very first state in the United States to mandate a hunter safety course for all new hunters. That was in1949 for the upcoming season. Our friends across the mighty Delaware in Pennsylvania started their program in 1959. They began mandating it in 1969.

In the very beginning, hunter safety courses in NY were the responsibility of the Game Protectors (now called Environmental Conservation Officers). Over the years that has changed, and while ECOs still teach and help with courses, most are held by regular Certified Instructors like myself.

There are currently approximately 2,378 volunteer HEP instructors in New York State. They teach hundreds, if not thousands, of courses each year, always working in teams. To date, over 3 million new hunters have been certified in courses taught in NY.

There are three levels of instructors in New York. New instructors are Apprentices for usually four or more courses before they become Certified Instructors. There are also Master Instructors who help recruit and certify new instructors and occasionally sit in on courses held by other instructors to give constructive feedback to help improve and standardize the program.

There are a whole group of folks at the DEC that run the program including Regional Coordinators and Assistants that help certify us and provide the course materials. They also assist instructors with the computer system that is used to list courses and maintain all of the records.

At the very top is the Hunter Education Program Administrator, a position that was recently filled by Katrina Talbot after Kelly Stang retired. I want to welcome Katrina to the new role (she formerly ran the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program among many other things) and I want to wish Kelly all the best in retirement. It’s been a pleasure working with both of these ladies during my time so far as an instructor.

Does hunter safety work? Regular readers of this column know that it does. The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (.gov) website states that hunting related shooting incidents have fallen by more than 80 percent since hunter education was implemented. New York State reports a nearly 85 percent decrease.

I want to wish all of the folks in the DEC HEP program Congratulations on 75 years!

Let’s all enjoy the outdoors!

John S. Van etten is the current president of the Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs of Sullivan County, Inc.