Executive Board
Michael Farrington, Chairman
Since I was a child I have always had a passion for wild places and the animals that inhabit them. That passion led me to pursue a career as an ichthyologist, and I have spent the past 20 years studying fish throughout the southwestern United States. Outside of a great year living in Missoula Montana, I am a lifelong New Mexican and received both my undergraduate and graduate degrees from UNM.
Whether it was hunting, fishing, camping or hiking, spending time on our public lands has been a cornerstone of my life. I now have the privilege of teaching my two children these same outdoor skills, and the satisfaction that comes from days spent in the field. It is my great pleasure to be working with the New Mexico chapter of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers as it defends the use and enjoyment of our public lands.
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Mark Zschoche, Vice Chair
Mark grew up in eastern Kansas just outside of Kansas City. He began hunting by tagging along with his dad, grandpa, and brothers on pheasant hunting trips to central Kansas even before he was old enough to carry a shotgun. The thrill of a pheasant or covey of quail flushing unexpectedly from under his feet was what really hooked him on hunting. As Mark got into high school and college, he broadened his hunting interests and started pursuing ducks, whitetail deer, and turkey. Shortly after college Mark’s career moved him out west to Montana, and then to California. In the western US is where Mark discovered public lands. Up until this time, public lands were somewhat of a foreign concept to him. Once he learned about them, a whole new world of recreation opportunities opened up. This is when Mark’s passion for our public lands was ignited.
Mark has been a member of BHA since 2015, and became more engaged when he moved to Minnesota a couple of years later, eventually serving on the Minnesota Chapter Board in 2021. When he learned that he and his wife would be moving to Albuquerque, he reached out to the New Mexico board to learn how he could stay involved with BHA to ensure the same opportunities he has now are still available to future generations. Mark truly enjoys being a part of an organization that matches his passion for public lands.
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Lance Miller, Treasurer
As a young angler and backpacker, I seriously took for granted public access and never gave a thought to whether or not it would always be there. In my 40’s, after taking up hunting, the availability of land that I could hunt on seemed more scarce. I joined Backcountry Hunters & Anglers after hearing the California BHA chapter chair lay out the BHA mission and purpose on a local podcast. It also became clear that this work wasn’t going to be done just as a dues paying member. My move to New Mexico introduced me to a great group of people committed to conservation and access and supporting late in life hunters. A desire to be a part of this group and be of service to our outdoors access led to role as New Mexico BHA Treasurer.
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Abran Briseño, Stewardship Chair
Abran is a lifelong resident of New Mexico, as well as a lifelong hunter/angler. Wading streams for trout in the summer and chasing quail in the fall were his earliest adventures in the wild. Thanks to family traditions, the outdoors were the backdrop to many great memories. None of this would have been possible without public lands. He joined BHA in order to ensure that the access to lands that enriched his life are available to the next generation.
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Caty Enders, Legislative Chair
Adult-onset hunter Caty Enders came to BHA through the backdoor, as a journalist, covering public land issues in the West for the Guardian. After a Field to Table Dinner at Rendezvous in Missoula, and a hike into the Idaho Wilderness, this occasional fly fisherwoman became a hunting convert. A longtime outdoorswoman and sometime employee of the Appalachian Mountain Club, hunting has fundamentally improved her appreciation of outdoor spaces and public land. A Bostonian by birth, her heart home is in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her favorite forays have been elk in the Gila and mule deer in the Pecos. As Legislative Chair, she is grateful for the chance to protect the wild places that have given her so much solace and freedom.
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Jebb Norton, Board Member at Large
Jebb was born, raised and lives in Santa Fe County. He grew up exploring, fishing and floating Northern NM mountains, streams and wilderness areas with his family. Fishing led to hunting small game, then to pursuing big game with rifle and bow. For Jebb the experience of hunting and fishing has always been largely about the wild and beautiful places in which they happen, and now he's excited to do what he can to help protect and care for the special places that have shaped him and guided him throughout his life. He's currently an educator and homebuilder in Northern New Mexico.
Regional Representatives
Chase Taylor, Northwest Region
Chase was born and raised in New Mexico and has been an avid hunter, fisherman, and general pursuer of all things outdoors since being old enough to track his father around. From trailing elk in the West and white-tailed deer in the Midwest to chasing the salmon run in Alaska and wahoo on the big waters, the outdoors is his happy place. So much so that he made a career of it. Following time at NMSU and Texas Tech, Chase has spent the last 11 years putting a B.S. and M.S. degree to work as an environmental consultant, and most recently on renewable energy development projects, while minimizing the impacts to public and private lands along the way.
More recently, Chase can be found somewhere outside, with his family, teaching their young daughter how to catch bluegills, dig up worms, and about all other wild things along the way.
Adam Barkalow, Northwest Region
Adam Barkalow was born and raised in New Mexico and was exposed to hunting and fishing at an early age through family and friends. Trying to keep himself outdoors as much as possible led Adam to seek a career in conservation biology. Adam attained both undergraduate and graduate degrees in biology from the University of New Mexico. Since 2007, Adam has worked in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah trying to restore native fishes, amphibians, reptiles, and invertebrates. Currently, Adam works for the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish as the San Juan River native fish biologist. His goals are to continue to do great things for fish and wildlife conservation, protect public lands in perpetuity, enrich his family’s life with outdoor experiences, and hopefully one day train a decent bird dog.
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Jeb Brown, Northwest Region
Jeb Brown grew up duck hunting and fly fishing in Arizona, and eagerly anticipated every opportunity to camp on public lands in the cool mountains of northern and eastern AZ. Now a self-declared hunting and fishing generalist, Jeb enjoys all kinds of outdoor activities in New Mexico, particularly those resulting in cooking food from the wild and sharing with friends and family. Better still, enjoyed with a first-time hunter or fisher. As a hydrologist Jeb understands careful conservation and protection of water and habitat is foundational for preserving a heritage of wildlife on the landscape.
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Mark Mattaini, Northwest Region
Mark Mattaini, a BHA Life Member, lives in Paguate Village, Laguna Pueblo, New Mexico. A fisherman from birth (most recently with Tenkara gear), his hunting history (most recently with a trad bow) includes upland birds, waterfowl, and wild turkey, with occasional big game experiences with friends. He has worked for decades in programs supporting strong community programs in locations ranging from interior and coastal Alaska to New York City, and held faculty appointments at three major universities. His recent systems analytic research emphasizes practices supporting social and ecological justice; he is convinced that the issues and practices important to BHA (e.g., public lands and waters, hunting for sustainability), and values emphasized by David Petersen in Heartsblood and Leopold’s Land Ethic are critically important at this moment in time (and systemic thinking and action can help).
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Felix Hernandez, Northwest Region
I am a science teacher, husband, father, outdoor enthusiast, and founder of New Mexico Avid Hunters. I was raised in the southeastern part of New Mexico. I attended the University of New Mexico and received my BS in Education. I have since spent my time educating students in science classrooms within the northern areas of New Mexico. In my free time I have helped with conservation efforts with the Mule Deer Foundation .
New Mexico has a diverse population of big game and small game and it’s our responsibility to harvest game ethically and responsibly. As hunters we must focus our efforts in conservation to help keep sustainable populations for our future children. Hunting is a tradition that has been passed down for generations, and we plan to keep it alive for future generations.
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Joel Gay, Northwest Region
Joel grew up in Albuquerque and learned to love the backcountry while fishing, skiing and hiking around New Mexico with his family. After graduating from UNM he moved to Alaska and stayed nearly 30 years, working as a journalist and commercial fisherman and enjoying the state’s great outdoors. After returning to New Mexico in 2005, he was hired as communications director for the New Mexico Wildlife Federation. Now retired, Joel is an avid bow hunter and fly fisherman who would rather walk miles into the backcountry than hunt or fish among the crowds.
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Darrell Dinwiddie, Northeast Region
Darrell Dinwiddie, PhD was born and raised in New Mexico. He is currently an Associate Professor at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center where his research focuses on using genomic epidemiology to understand and investigate infectious diseases. He grew up camping, hiking, fishing, and hunting throughout New Mexico and Southern Colorado. As a BHA member and now as a member of the NMBHA board, he is particularly excited about opportunities to educate the public about important conservation and public land issues and volunteering in stewardship events to improve the land for the public and wildlife. When not working and spending time with his family, he enjoys hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, outdoor photography, and hunting all of which he is able to do by taking advantage of open access to the vast amount of public lands in the Southwest.
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Charles Tripp, Southeast Region
Charles grew up in the outdoors of Pennsylvania’s Appalachian Mountains. He joined the Marine Corps right after high school. When getting out of the Marine Corps he went with another Marine to Colorado to archery hunt and fell in love the Mountains and stayed for almost two decades before making his way to New Mexico. He is an avid outdoorsman who prefers the close interactions with wildlife while bowhunting, and good coffee on a cold snowy mountain. He joined NMBHA’s board due to his strong belief that sportsman need to stand together to protect our outdoor heritage or we will lose it divided.
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