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.
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.
Secretary - VACANT (accepting applications as of 10/15/2025)
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, Vice Chair - Interior
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.
Interior Representative - VACANT - Accepting Applications starting 10/15/25.
Andrew Hardy, Events & Outreach Chair - Southcentral
Andrew grew up moving all over the US and Europe as a Navy brat. He got the itch for hunting, fishing, and camping from periodic trips with his uncle and father to go duck hunting and fly fishing. After college and 5 years serving in the US Navy as a submarine officer, he moved to Arizona with his wife and began scratching the outdoorsman itch. The abundant public land in Arizona gave him an intense appreciation for the incredible recreational opportunities it affords, and the birth of his three kids emphasized the need to preserve it even more. He moved to Alaska to escape the heat and spend as much time outdoors with his wife and kids as possible.
Ryan Schuman - Kenai Representative - Moose Pass
Ryan lives in Moose Pass with his wife and dog, and they spend the majority of their free time wandering public lands 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.
Alex Bradberry, Southcentral Representative - Anchorage
Alex Bradberry lives in Bird Creek and currently works in salmon recovery. Right now, her role focuses on the fisheries of the Washington Coast, and she splits time between Washington, while living full-time in Alaska. Prior, Alex was a sport fishing guide in Western Alaska/Goodnews, and owned and operated a fly fishing outfitter service pre-COVID.
Alex was born and raised in San Diego where she grew up primarily fishing for largemouth bass in local reservoirs as well as various trout species in the Sierra Nevadas. She moved to Alaska via Washington after spending a few years on the Olympic Peninsula fishing for steelhead and salmon. Passion for fishing led Alex to stewardship and an eventual career change. So while she doesn’t get paid to fish anymore, Alex still spends her weekends either hiking in the backcountry or fishing the many, many streams and rivers nearby, both on the Kenai Peninsula and further north in the Matsu.
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.
Mark Lindberg, Conservation Policy Chair - Interior
Mark has worked in the wildlife profession since 1984, retiring as professor of wildlife biology in 2022. Mark spent 30 years of his career as a population ecologist working in Alaska on a variety of species including a number of waterfowl species, ptarmigan, and moose. His work took him all over Alaska and he particularly enjoyed his time working in the alpine habitats of interior Alaska.
Since retiring Mark has been pursuing his passion for photography. He particularly enjoys it when he can combine his photography with a conservation storytelling, which he recently did when he covered the restoration of Wood Bison to Minto Flats for the newspaper and Alaska magazine.
He is a lifetime hunter and he most enjoys following his dogs in the alpine in pursuit of ptarmigan. He and his family also enjoy hunting Caribou and Mark has done more than 20 hunting trips to the Brooks Range in pursuit of these marvelous animals. As the Conservation Policy Chair for the Alaska Chapter of BHA, Mark uses professional background, photography, and storytelling to address conservation
Rory O'hanrahan, Outreach Assistant - 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.
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.
Craig Holmes, Board Member at Large- Valdez
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.