(a) The department shall provide for a course of instruction in hunter education, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship, and for this purpose may cooperate with any reputable association or organization having as one of its objectives the promotion of hunter safety, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship.

(b) The department may designate as a hunter education instructor any person found by it to be competent to give instruction in the courses required in this article.

(c) A hunter education instructor shall issue a certificate of completion as provided by the department to a person who completes a course of instruction in hunter safety, principles of conservation, and sportsmanship.

(d) The department shall prescribe a minimum level of skill and knowledge to be required of all hunter education instructors, and may limit the number of students per instructor in all required classes.

(e) The department may revoke the certificate of an instructor when, in the opinion of the department, it is in the best interest of the state to do so.

(f) In order to recruit and retain hunter education instructors, the department shall offer special hunting opportunities to qualified hunter education instructors by providing a limited number of existing tags and other hunting opportunities. The department may provide these tags and hunting opportunities through any of the following methods:

(1) The private lands management program described in Article 5 (commencing with Section 3400) of Chapter 2.

(2) The Shared Habitat Alliance for Recreational Enhancement (SHARE) program described in Article 3 (commencing with Section 1570) of Chapter 5 of Division 2.

(3) Entering into cooperative agreements with federal, state, and local agencies that hold title to, or administer, lands or waters.

(4) Entering into cooperative agreements with landowners or tenants seeking depredation permits for game mammals as described in Section 4188.

(5) Authorizing a maximum of 15 tags from the annual tag quota, as determined by the department.

(g) The department shall determine eligibility criteria for hunter education instructors seeking the hunting opportunities offered pursuant to subdivision (f). The department shall offer hunting opportunities to eligible hunter education instructors only by random drawing.

(h) The department may adopt regulations to implement this section.

(Amended by Stats. 2015, Ch. 154, Sec. 65. (AB 1527) Effective January 1, 2016.)