Ted Koch, Chair: Garden Valley, ID

Ted grew up in Connecticut catching frogs in the wetland that used to be behind his home and riding his bike 3 miles in the dark to fish at sunrise. He later taught himself to hunt. He dreamed of living in the West and working as a biologist, having a beautiful, loving wife and two wonderful kids. 

Having lived the dream, his kids now fledged, and his wife willing to tolerate half the income with twice the husband, he retired early and is turning his attention to another dream: to be the future of conservation leadership by hunters and anglers, building support from all – including those who don’t hunt or fish – for conserving the wildlife and wild lands we love. Rejoining the board of BHA will help fulfill this dream through implementing the mission of BHA itself, leading a movement toward mutual support for and action by all who love the land. 

Ryan Callaghan, Vice Chair: Bozeman, MT 

Ryan Callaghan is the conservation director for MeatEater and vice chair of the executive committee on the BHA North American board. Ryan has been a passionate member of the outdoor community, growing up guiding, hunting, fishing and playing in the West.

T. Edward Nickens, Secretary: Raleigh, NC

T. Edward Nickens has reported on conservation, the outdoors and rural culture for some of the world's most respected publications for over three decades. He is editor at large for Field & Stream and a contributing editor for Audubon magazine. His work has appeared in Smithsonian, National Geographic Adventure, Men's Journal, Garden & Gun, Shooting Sportsman, Sporting Classics and many other titles. His two books for Field & Stream have sold more than 250,000 copies. His works have been collected in a half-dozen "best of" anthologies and won numerous awards. In addition, Nickens has served as host, writer and field producer for Field & Stream's television shows The Gun Nuts and The Total Outdoorsman Challenge as well as the award-winning Heroes of Conservation webisode series. He has consulted as a speaker, speechwriter, white-paper author and communications specialist for a range of conservation organizations. Nickens lives in Raleigh and Morehead City, North Carolina. 

Jeffrey M. Jones, Treasurer: Huntsville, AL

Jeff Jones is a senior manager for a global engineering and environmental consulting firm while simultaneously serving in the United States Army Reserve for the last 27 years. A veteran of two tours in Iraq, he was raised in south Mississippi as a generalist hunter and angler. He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees in agricultural and biological engineering from Mississippi State University and is a registered professional engineer. He lives in Huntsville, Alabama, with his wife and two daughters. 

Dr. Keenan Adams, Puerto Rico

Keenan was a military brat; however South Carolina is considered home. One of his first memories was fishing with his father at Keesler Air Force Base. He later learned hunting in college and decided to pursue a career in wildlife biology. He has spent the last 15 years working as a land manager and scientist for several agencies in many parts of the country. He is serving on the board in his personal capacity and not a government representative.

After playing college football and finishing a B.S. in biology at Furman University, he attended Clemson University and was awarded his M.S. degree in forest resources (avian and disturbance ecology) and PhD in wildlife biology with a concentration in human dimensions. Adams has become a fanatic for Caribbean fly-fishing and currently resides in Puerto Rico with his wife and daughter.

Bill Hanlon: Sparwood, BC

Bill is blessed to be a wilderness hunter and to live in British Columbia. He grew up in Trail, B.C., and although he had never hunted or even knew anyone who owned a horse, he has always had a passion for all things wild. His dad got him interested in fly fishing at an early age and established a high degree of ethics for how they conducted themselves outdoors and how important it is to adhere to the regulations.

Bill graduated from Eastern Washington University in 1984 with a bachelor’s degree in industrial technology and went on to finish his bachelor’s degree in education at the University of British Columbia in 1986. He taught industrial education at Elkford Secondary School for almost 20 years before changing careers in 2006 to start a small business called Wilderness Spirit Woodworks. He has been creating and building custom furniture ever since.

Bill has been fighting for habitat, wilderness and access management for the last 25 years. He co-founded the Hornaday Wilderness Society, a small but effective wilderness advocacy group based in the Elk Valley. He is also the representative for the wilderness and wildland sector on the Southern Rocky Mountain Management Plan Advisory Committee. He owns six sturdy mountain horses and two blue heeler/border collies named Smokey and the Bandit. He spends every possible minute riding or hunting with his family in the wildest places remaining in B.C. He was honored to be the first chair of the British Columbia chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.

Jim Harrington: Northville, MI 

Jim Harrington was born and raised in Michigan. He currently lives 30 minutes outside of Detroit in Northville with his wife and three kids.  As far back as he can remember he always spent time outdoors whether he was fishing for largemouth in neighborhood ponds, building tree forts or just endlessly exploring in the woods. 

This love for the outdoors has grown into spending countless hours creating whitetail habitat on his farm Branch County, MI, and hunting and fishing Alaska, Canada, Wyoming and Montana chasing all different kinds of cool critters.   

He also loves to share and teach the outdoors with his children which has been one of his greatest joys of being a dad. Whether he is with them hunting turkey, squirrels or whitetail on his West Michigan farm, fly fishing in Montana, or shore fishing in Florida he is never happier than when he is experiencing these adventures with his children.     

For over 20 years, Jim has fought in courtrooms across the country as a trial lawyer winning numerous jury verdicts for the individuals and families who have suffered tremendous losses.  

Hilary Hutcheson: Columbia Falls, MT

Hilary Hutcheson owns and runs Lary’s Fly and Supply in Columbia Falls, Montana, and guides on the Flathead River and Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Hutcheson started her fly-fishing career as a teenaged guide in West Glacier, Montana.

Later, she took her journalism degree to Portland, Oregon, and worked as a television news anchor and reporter before returning to Montana to co-own and operate Outside Media and Trout TV for nearly a decade. She loves hanging out with her two teen daughters, especially when they volunteer on the oars.

Dr. Christopher L. Jenkins, Development Committee Chair, Rabun County, GA

Jenkins lives in the Nantahala Mountains where he has built a life around conserving wildlife and wild places. He is the founding chief executive officer of The Orianne Society. He also serves on the board of the Indian Ocean Tortoise Alliance and has served leadership roles in the International Union for Conservation of Nature, Partners for Reptiles and Amphibian Conservation, and Gopher Tortoise Council.

During his career, Chris has protected and restored tens of thousands of acres of land. Chris is a sportsman who enjoys both “hunting from home” and going on hunting and fishing adventures around the world. He spends over 150 days a year hunting and fishing on public lands, primarily hunting Appalachian bigwoods whitetails and travelling the continent chasing gobbling turkeys. His interests in conservation brought him to serve on the board of the Southeast chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers and subsequently to create the Georgia chapter.

Chris has also worked with Wildlife Conservation Society, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, University of Massachusetts, University of British Columbia and National Geographic. Chris received a B.S. and M.S. from the University of Massachusetts in wildlife conservation. He received his Ph.D. in biological sciences from Idaho State University.

Katie Morrison: Calgary, Alberta 

Growing up, Katie spent much of her time outdoors with her family camping, horseback riding, canoeing and fishing. She feels lucky to now live in southern Alberta, Treaty 7 Territory, in the heart of world-class flyfishing rivers and streams, and she spends her summers traveling in her converted minivan camper or backpacking into the mountains, chasing native westslope cutthroat trout. She also loves crunching through the fall leaves and snow in pursuit of white-tailed deer and attempting to find upland birds with her non-hunting dog.

When she's not hunting or fishing, you can find her digging up yet another section of her yard to accommodate her ever-expanding garden or drying, freezing, preserving and cooking the abundance of foods harvested from the backcountry and the backyard.

Katie’s early connection to the natural world motivated her to obtain a B.Sc. in environmental and conservation sciences from the University of Alberta and a master's of environmental design from the University of Calgary, combining her love of both natural and social sciences. Katie has worked in biology and conservation for more than 20 years and now spends her days working on the protection and management of Southern Alberta’s wild lands and waters.

Ray Penny: Henryetta, OK

Though he is an avid duck hunter, Ray also loves spending time in western Oklahoma pursuing the state's native elk and mule deer.  Growing up as an avid angler, Ray is an adult-onset hunter and enjoys teaching and mentoring other adults who are learning to hunt.  When asked what he would choose if he could only enjoy one outdoor pursuit for the rest of his life, his answer is tarpon on the fly in his Mother's native Puerto Rico.

Ray is the CEO of G&H Decoys, Inc., the last manufacturer of waterfowl decoys in the United States.  Prior to his time at G&H, Ray worked as a prosecutor on the Gang and Organized Crime Unit of the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office.  In addition to his time prosecuting organized crime, Ray also prosecuted all of the fish and game crimes in the greater Tulsa area.  Before law school Ray spent 7 years as an Artillery Officer in the United States Marine Corps, deploying to Afghanistan in 2011.  

When he's not hunting or fishing, Ray can be found in the kitchen cooking the things he hunts and fishes, playing classical guitar, or driving one of his kids to a sports game or and extracurricular event.  Ray lives in Tulsa with his wife Maggie, and six children who love the outdoors almost as much as their mom and dad.

Don Rank: Philadelphia, PA

Don Rank is a lifelong Pennsylvania resident, born and raised in the Philadelphia area. As a youth, he learned to hunt and fish on the large tracts of state game lands surrounding the family cabin built by his grandfather in the mountains of PA. To this day, that cabin continues to be the epicenter of many of his outdoor pursuits.

Professionally, Don has been in practice as a nurse anesthetist since 2003, concentrating primarily on pediatric anesthesia. He served in the same role in the Army Reserves and has lectured for various nurse anesthesia graduate programs in the Philadelphia area.

Prior to joining the North American Board, Don served on the board of the Pennsylvania Chapter, first as secretary, beginning in 2018, and since 2021 as chairman. During that time, he has focused primarily on legislative and policy issues, making dozens of trips to the state capital to advocate for BHA with lawmakers and agency decision makers. As the chapter policy lead, Don has empowered many BHA members to become advocates for conservation in the state.

Don’s wife, Wendi, is also an active BHA member. In addition to outdoor pursuits, Don, Wendi and their two children enjoy traveling in the U.S. and abroad. Their most recent adventure was to Scotland.

J.R. Young: Los Gatos, CA

J.R. Young was raised in Bellevue Washington. He enjoyed his weekends and summer at a cabin in Central Washington where he started hunting and fishing at an early age. He spent countless days exploring Wenatchee National Forest as well as the Mt. Baker/Snoqualmie National Forest closer to Bellevue. He truly fell in love with the outdoors.

Currently living in The Santa Cruz Mountains in Los Gatos California with his wife, son, dog and chickens, he continues to enjoy the outdoors on a regular basis. At J.R.’s house, most activities surround food, preparing for food, canning food, foraging for food hunting for food and most importantly sharing the experience of food with friends and sometimes complete strangers. J.R. is a man that loves life, and he encourages people to explore that natural world and enjoy what is theirs to enjoy. He holds his Bachelor’s degree in Political Science from the University of Washington and a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Fairfield University in Connecticut. After spending eleven years as a tax accountant he has joined his wife in her Naturopathic Medical Clinic.