WAUSAU, Wis. (AP) -- The organizer says a new Hmong hunting and fishing club is forming in Green Bay to help ease racial tensions.

Wayia Thao says the new group - called Hmong Sportsmen Club - will hold its first meeting on May 7 to elect officers.

The move comes just months after a white hunter was sentenced for killing a Hmong hunter during a confrontation in some northeast Wisconsin woods.

The chief of law enforcement for the state Department of Natural Resources, Randy Stark, says the new club is the first Hmong outdoors group to formally organize in Wisconsin. He calls it a great step forward in conservation efforts.

Thao says Hmong haven't joined traditional outdoor clubs because they don't feel comfortable with them and because there are some language barriers.