President Biden signed the Protecting Hunting Heritage and Education Act into law, restoring federal funding to schools that include archery and hunter education in their curriculums. Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation was one of the first to call for fixing the law and members sent more than 8,200 messages to Capitol Hill seeking such a result.
The U.S. Department of Education previously cited one line in the year-old Bipartisan Safer Communities Act that restricts funds being used to provide “a dangerous weapon” or “training in the use of a dangerous weapon,” to block funding to schools with hunter education and the National Archery in the Schools Program (NASP). Nearly 8,900 schools and 1.3 million students are involved in NASP.
The U.S. House of Representatives voted 424-1 followed by a unanimous vote in the U.S. Senate to send the legislation to President Biden, who signed it one week later.
With hunting heritage as a key part of its mission, RMEF contributed $1.8 million to nearly 800 school-based projects safely teaching shooting sports over the years, leveraging $5.7 million in partner matching funds. RMEF also invested heavily in NASP, contributing to 340 projects in 37 states, with a direct investment of $434,045 that leveraged $1,761,344 in partner dollars.
RMEF appreciates the bipartisan actions of lawmakers and the president to fix the legislation.
(Photo credit: Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation)