Bill Stevens was raised on a small farm near Hinckley, MN and attended the University of MN. He joined Federal Cartridge in 1965 and retired in 2007. For the first 20 years he coordinated Federal sponsored 4-H Conservation Camps that taught 4-H youth about the conservation of natural resources. In 1985, after 50 years of Camp sponsorship, he changed Federal’ support to 4-H Shooting Sports Leader Training Workshops. In the early 1970′ Texas 4-H initiated a pilot 4-H Shooting Sports Program that taught volunteer leaders how to teach youth shooting skills. Stevens provided support for these programs and recruited additional states to conduct pilot workshops.
As a member of the founding National 4-H Shooting Sports Committee, he contacted shooting sports industry and conservation organizations to raise money and equipment for the program. He identified sites for regional leader training and assisted at these events. Bill encouraged other states to get involved in the program, explaining that shooting sports was a youth development program. As a result, 4-H shooting sports programs exist in 48 states involving over 300,000 youth annually. He co-authored rifle and pistol lesson plans, developed training videos, provided the shotgun awards for the National 4-H Invitational Matches and exhibited at NAE4-HA conferences.
