The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) appointed Steev Wilson to serve as Regional Director for the Roaring Fork Valley Group.

Steev was raised on the east coast fishing with his father and grandfather in the Block Island Sound and digging clams, mussels, and crabbing in the salt ponds. He was a volunteer and counselor at the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) camps is the summers where he received his hunters-ed. certification and then assisted in teaching hunters-ed. Steev moved to Colorado after college where he took up big game hunting as an adult.

“I grew up fishing the public lands and waters of the east coast. Some of my fondest memories are of fishing with my father,” Steev said. “Now I take my sons hunting and fishing in the public lands of Colorado so they can learn to appreciate nature like I do.” “I hunt for many reasons, but I loving cooking so the main reason is the food aspect,” he added. “I really love that my food comes with a donation to conservation and the reduction of pressure on agricultural land. Every elk burger contributes to the wild places and decrease the need for acres under the plow.”

Steev joined BHA when he heard about the great work we are doing to support public lands access via the corner crossing case in Montana. “I am excited to bring some more social awareness to the conservation that the hunting public brings to our state,” he emphasized. “I miss the days of the ‘hug a hunter’ program and would like to reestablish hunters at the for front of the conservation movement, rather than the vilification that seems to have been turned on us.”

Steev has also served on two boards in the past. “I am a professional who has run multiple businesses,” he explained. “As an architect I have attended many City Counsel, BOCC, P&Z and other public meetings and am comfortable making public comments as well as public presentations. As a hunter and public land enthusiast as well as an architect who works to develop land, I have the ability to look at these issues from both perspectives.”

“I would like to see BHA leverage the professional skills of its membership as much as they do their strong backs,” he added. “Fence pulls are a great way to bond and get outdoors, but we have talent beyond labor. I would like to focus more on policy.”

Are you interested in serving on the Colorado BHA Chapter Leadership Team? Learn more about our volunteer opportunities here.

Founded by Mike Beagle, a former U.S. Army field artillery officer, and formed around an Oregon campfire, in 2004, Backcountry Hunters & Anglers is the voice for our nation’s wild public lands, waters and wildlife.[1] With members spread out across all 50 states and 13 Canadian provinces and territories—including chapters in 49 states, two Canadian provinces and one territory, and Washington, D.C.—BHA brings an authentic, informed, boots-on-the-ground voice to the conservation of public lands. The Colorado BHA chapter was founded by David “Elkheart” Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) in 2005 (the first official BHA chapter)[2]

[1] David A. Lien. “Freedom & Fire: A Brief BHA History II.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 2/24/25.

[2] David A. Lien. “Where Hope Lives: A Brief BHA History.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/30/20.