Texas Man Enters Hunter Education Hall of Fame

Tom Harvey, 512-389-4453, tom.harvey@tpwd.texas.gov

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ATHENS, Texas — James Parker, III, of Malakoff near here, was inducted into the International Hunter Education Association Hall of Fame at the IHEA Annual Conference recently held in Las Vegas.

Parker was honored for more than 50 years of involvement in hunter education. In Utah, he served more than 25 years in hunter education, assisting and befriending A. Lee Robertson, first hunter education coordinator of the Utah Division of Wildlife program and one of the originators of the professional association in 1971.

Parker later moved to Texas and became involved in Texas Parks and Wildlife Department's angler, boater and hunter education programs as an area chief and later as a volunteer for the Texas Freshwater Fisheries Center. He has since taught many new instructors and more than 1,500 students in hunter education. Only three other Texans have ever attained the award. Parker joins all three former Texas hunter education coordinators, T.D. Carroll, Darrell Holt and Steve Hall as IHEA Hall of Fame inductees.

During his acceptance speech in Las Vegas, Parker said, "I always felt that Lee Robertson was a great friend and mentor, and I always wanted to be just like him. He is in the IHEA Hall of Fame, and now I have taken my place beside him. My other mentors were Steve Hall and Terry Erwin when I moved to Texas. It is a great honor to accept this award as a representative from Texas."

Parker is a former two-time winner of the Arlington Sportsman Club "Sportsman of the Year" award. In 2000, at the second annual Lone Star Legends awards reception, Jim and his wife received the Lone Star Legends Award for Outstanding Educational Efforts and Volunteer Service, given by TPWD. Parker was later selected as the Winchester Hunter Education Volunteer of the Year in North America in 2000 and was inducted into the Texas Hunter Education Hall of Fame in 2002.

Jim continues to volunteer his time with TPWD programs and has been busy setting up his education courses for the coming year.

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