Vermont s aquatic resource education program (are) began in 1990 under a federal aid grant from the U.S. Fish and wildlife service

This $272,500 Formula Grant award from the U.S. Department of the Interior Fish and Wildlife Service under the Sport Fish Restoration program (CFDA 15.605) will support Vermont's Aquatic Resource Education (ARE) program over a 5-year period from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. The ARE program focuses on youth and adult education around aquatic resources and angling, including conservation camp programs, educator training courses, fishing clinics, and interpretive exhibits. The grant will fund efforts to enhance educator training, update educational curricula, streamline volunteer instructor certification, and expand fishing education opportunities with a focus on underserved audiences. Key objectives include increasing awareness of Vermont's aquatic resources, retaining participants in the Let's Go Fishing program, and reactivating lapsed anglers.

Vermont s are program focuses on youth and adult education in a variety of capacities all while following best management practices for nonformal education. Are youth education occurs at the department s green mountain conservation camps, school programs, and educational organization programs. Adult education occurs at the natural resource management for educators and outdoor education techniques course as well as the project aquatic wild curriculum guide and training for educators. Lastly, a combination of adult and youth education occurs in the let s go fishing program as well as interpretation through mobile exhibits and a state visitors center at a fish culture station (i.e. ED weed fish culture station in grant isle).this new five-year plan intends to build upon the previous accomplishments by exploring, implementing, and evaluating new ways of educator training, revising, and enriching educational curricula, streamlining the process of certifying volunteer instructors, improving volunteer instructor training, and creating more educational fishing clinics for people of all ages with a focus on underserved audiences in outdoor activities, specifically fishing. During this next five-year plan, an emphasis will be placed on advanced aquatic education curriculum and evaluation methods for the let s go fishing program as well as reaching underserved audiences. This new five-year grant will support topic programming and evaluations for the LGF program that will hopefully lead to retention of participants in the program, as well as the reactivation of lapsed anglers. All of which will lead to a greater awareness of vermont s aquatic resources and participation in angling.