Dave Johnson, Chapter Chair- Kodiak
Dave grew up fishing and hunting in Seward, Alaska. Some of his earliest memories are of catching sockeye salmon on the Russian River with his father. He joined the Coast Guard and after a career flying helicopters throughout the Northwest including two tours in Kodiak he has since retired from service and lives in Kodiak with his wife and two young children, McKinley and Elias. He is an Alaska Fish and Game volunteer bow hunter and basic hunter safety instructor and a volunteer National Archery in Schools Program archery instructor. In their free time, he and his family spend as much time hiking, camping, fishing and hunting as possible and are currently training their first bird dog together.
Kevin Fraley, Vice Chair- Interior
Kevin grew up fishing, hunting, and hiking with his family in Northwest Montana. Spending much of his formative years exploring the Bob Marshall and Great Bear Wilderness Areas fostered his love for wild public lands and solitude. He moved to Fairbanks, Alaska in 2008 and completed degrees in fisheries science. Alaska quickly became home thanks to the unparalleled fishing, hunting, and adventure opportunities that the state offers. Kevin was drawn to Alaska's Interior Region due to its wide expanses of undeveloped land, delightfully quirky yet friendly people, and as a gateway to adventures in the Arctic. When not dodging mosquitoes and bears, while conducting remote fisheries fieldwork, he is usually found chasing after Chinook salmon or sheefish with a fly rod. Kevin is particularly interested in liaising with other members of the outdoor recreation community on conservation issues that affect Alaska's natural resources.
Jeff Knisley, Treasurer- Southcentral
Jeff was born and raised in northeast Washington. As a child, with his siblings and friends they were allowed to roam in the outdoors learning to fish, collect wild mussels, and trap ground squirrels. After completing hunters’ safety, he began hunting forest grouse and waterfowl before moving onto deer and elk.
Jeff attended college at the University of Idaho pursuing a degree in Wildlife Biology while working summers doing fisheries work for the USFS in southern Idaho. After college, he began his career in natural resource protection which took him to Arizona, northern California, Idaho, and now Alaska where he lives with his wife in Anchorage. Jeff and his wife enjoy spending time experiencing all that Alaska has to offer hiking, packrafting, fat-tire biking, snowshoeing, hunting, and fishing.
Ashlee Bowman, Secretary, Bethel
Ashlee was born and raised in Palmer, Alaska by a father that let her skip school to go hunting and fishing. She later left Alaska to attend the Natural Resource and Fire Science Program at Itasca Community College in Minnesota and joined the Forest Service to fight wildland fires during the summer. Ashlee came back to Alaska and worked in Corrections until she married and became a stay-at-home mother to two girls. The family recently uprooted and moved to Bethel, Alaska for work and new adventures.
Barry Whitehill, BOD Emeritus; Historian- Interior
Growing up in eastern Washington, Barry was fortunate to have public lands close at hand. Starting with his first elk at age 14, it became obvious to him that deep, dark holes on public lands were places to be consistently successful as a hunter. Also, they were a place where Barry could rejuvenate his soul. That has been repeatedly validated when Barry lived in Idaho, northern Nevada, and, since 1992, in Fairbanks, Alaska.
Nate Kibbey, Interior Representative
Originally from Ohio, Nate spent 8 years on active duty across several states. He fell in love with the Alaskan landscape and decided to switch over to Army reserves. Nate and his wife love the Fairbanks area and are bird obsessed. Nate’s wife works at Creamers Field waterfowl refuge and Nate gets to join in on banding at times. He loves duck season but ptarmigan enchiladas must be his favorite game dish. Nate hopes to get others excited about the idea of keeping Alaska wild and accessible.
Ryan Schuman, Kenai Peninsula Representative
Ryan grew up in Southeast Michigan, on the shores of Lake St. Clair. Most of his time was spent fishing for bass and panfish there or chasing squirrels on nearby tracts of public land. Ryan moved to Alaska in 2015 to start a job as a fish hatchery technician. Eventually moving to Kake, AK in 2018 to manage a salmon hatchery. He lives in Kake with his fiancée, and they spend the majority of their free time wandering the logging roads looking for grouse, moose, black bear, and deer. Ryan has always had a passion for the outdoors but didn't become a dedicated big game hunter until moving to Alaska. The ability to fully subsist off successful hunts for a year or more is what has him enthralled with public land hunting, and the immense adventure of doing it in Alaska is what has made Ryan want to be proactively involved in protecting our opportunities. Ryan is very excited for the opportunity to contribute to BHA's mission in Alaska.
Ryan Bandy, Policy Chair- Interior
Ryan grew up in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains hunting, fishing, and trapping. He served in the United States Marine Corps from 2001-2009 as an infantryman with two tours to Iraq. After the service, Ryan moved to Alaska in 2010 seeking wide open spaces and pursuit of the unique wildlife Alaska has to offer.
Ryan is a licensed funeral director, insurance producer, and business owner. Ryan also teaches wildlife conservation and an introduction to trapping course with school districts in rural communities across Alaska. Ryan's passion is teaching the next generation the values of ethical hunting, trapping, wildlife conservation, and protecting our wild public lands.
Alec & Angelica Boyd-Devine, Communications Co-Chairs- Southeast
Alec grew up in Indiana until attending graduate school in his early twenties. He finished graduate school and published a master's thesis on conservation policy and public land preservation in the United States. He then began working in naturalism. Angelica grew up all over the US. After graduate school, she started a remote job in higher education publishing and was able to move as Alec completed seasonal contracts in places including Ohio, Florida, Utah, and Wyoming. Neither Alec nor Angelica grew up in families who used public land opportunities. Through fishing, hiking, and backpacking together the two realized and recognized what an incredible opportunity they have as Americans to access public land. Ultimately, Alec and Angelica decided to move to Juneau, Alaska, due to the incredible opportunities to recreate on public land like the Tongass National Forest and Mendenhall Wetlands Refuge.
Rory O'hanrahan, Events Chair- Southcentral
Rory grew up in Kona, Hawai'i and moved to Alaska for the variety of seasons and incredible fly fishing. When the weather gets colder, he follows his dogs chasing upland birds in the mountains around Anchorage. Rory is a self-described adult onset hunter but what he lacks in experience, he makes up for in enthusiasm. He is always striving to learn something new, most recently, archery. Rarely without his family in tow, Rory sees all of his time spent outside as an opportunity to learn and share new life lessons. Exploring and promoting public lands is something Rory plans on doing for a very long time.
Cody Rosenberg, AFI Liaison- Southcentral
Cody grew up in various locations across East Coast and Germany and was introduced to hunting, fishing, and skiing at a young age. He quickly found the outdoors as a way to bond with his family and calm his mind. Cody joined the Army in 2017, and in 2022 he was stationed in JBER. Since arriving in Alaska, he has discovered a unique community centered around an almost overwhelming number of outdoor activities. He spends most of his time with his girlfriend, Clare, skiing or fishing across Chugach State Park or training their dog, Juneau, a six-month-old GWP. Outside of the outdoors, Cody enjoys reading “boring history or policy books” (Clare’s words, not his), traveling, and slugging 12 cups of coffee a day to fuel his commitment, not addiction, to caffeine.
Paul A. Forward, Board Member at Large- Southcentral
Paul grew up in Eagle River, Alaska and currently resides in Girdwood with his wife, Erin and son, Ren. He grew up in a family obsessed with hunting big game animals with longbows and recurves and harvested his first moose and caribou with a recurve around age 12. Since then, he’s been on countless, mostly solo, extended wilderness bow hunts and is particularly passionate about chasing sheep and mountain goats with his longbow. In addition, he enjoys many other hunting opportunities around the state, sometimes with his wife and young son. While hunting is always the priority in the fall, Paul spends his summers enjoying all manner of rivers in whitewater kayaks and the winters exploring Alaska’s vast public lands in pursuit of deep snow and steep slopes backcountry skiing. Since 2012 he has spent each winter working as a heli ski guide based out of Girdwood. He splits the rest of his year between Girdwood and his place in Kotzebue where he has worked as a physician since 2016. Prior to 2016 he did similar rural physician work in Kodiak and still spends at least a few weeks there hunting each year.
Cody Strathe, Board Member at Large- Interior
Cody Strathe moved to Alaska over 20 years ago to spend time in wild places. He quickly fell in love with the wilderness of Alaska. Cody has a master's degree in Outdoor and Environmental Education from Alaska Pacific University and has worked in the outdoor industry as a guide and educator for most of his career. Cody owns and operates a custom dog gear manufacturing company and dog sled tour business based in Fairbanks. Along with his wife, he races and trains a competitive distance mushing team. They have finished multiple 1000-mile races including Iditarod and Yukon Quest. In his spare time, Cody enjoys traditional bow hunting, pack rafting, and exploring Alaska’s roadless wilderness with his dogs. Cody is a passionate advocate for public lands and wilderness preservation.
Trent MacKenzie, Board Member at Large- Southcentral
Trent was born and raised in Northwest Washington and grew up fishing, hunting, and backpacking throughout the Cascade Mountains and Puget Sound. He developed a passion for conserving public lands and wildlife at an early age. Trent graduated from the University of Washington with a degree in environmental science and resource management. He spent several seasons working as a fisheries biologist technician on salmon recovery efforts before moving into a project management role in the environmental consulting industry. Trent and his wife relocated to Anchorage, Alaska in 2018, drawn by the promise of adventure and opportunities to explore some of the last truly wild places in North America. In his free time, Trent can be found chasing salmon and trout with a fly rod, hunting big game with a bow and rifle, and exploring Alaska’s vast public lands with his wife and their two Labrador retrievers. He is passionate about advocating for conservation and ensuring future generations have the same opportunities to enjoy wild places and abundant wildlife.
Craig Holmes, Board Member at Large- Southeast
Craig grew up on the banks of the Chattahoochee River in Alabama and spent his youth hunting deer and small game and fishing every moment he could. He moved to Alaska in 2009 for work and quickly fell in love with the seemingly limitless outdoor opportunities. Craig currently lives in Juneau with his wife and daughter where they spend their time fishing, hunting, hiking, and exploring Southeast Alaska. When he's not chasing salmon in the summer or deer in the fall, Craig works as a fisheries biologist for a federal agency. He is passionate about protecting access to public lands and waters and ensuring that future generations have the same opportunities to enjoy the outdoors as he has been fortunate to have.