The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) recently appointed Blake Mamich to serve an Assistant Regional Director for their Southwest Colorado Group.
Blake was born and raised in Greeley, Colorado. “Growing up, I fished anywhere on the Front Range I could talk mom or dad into driving me to,” he said. His first hunting experiences were on walk-in access lands in eastern Colorado chasing pheasant. “Mom taught me how-to tie-on lure and Dad taught me how to shoot a shotgun.”
Hunting and fishing took a back seat to other activities during his adolescent and early adult years, but when a friend moved to southeast Alaska and became a subsistence hunter/angler, it inspired a classic reactivation. That inspiration coincided with Blake moving to southwest Colorado in 2017.
Since then, he has been immersed primarily in big game hunting. Elk, mule deer, pronghorn and turkey are his main pursuits. “I’m happiest with a bow in hand in the San Juan Mountains in September, but a rifle in October/November is a close second,” Blake said. Recently he’s been raising a Black Lab puppy and plans to start waterfowl hunting.
Blake has a B.S. in Natural Resource Management and a another B.S. in Natural Resources Economics. Professionally, he’s employed in the non-profit, conservation space, working on water issues in Colorado. “Personal and professional life often blend together, as I’m highly interested in natural resource policy,” he explained. “A hobby of mine is commenting during the public comment period of National Environmental Policy Act decisions.”
Blake first heard of BHA in 2016/2017 as he followed public land policy discourse around bills like the Disposal of Excess Public Federal Lands Act (H.R. 621), introduced by (former) U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz. He joined BHA in 2019. “The decision to join was made after recalling the efforts of BHA in response to bills like H.R. 621 and with the intention of putting the commonly uttered phrase ‘hunting is conservation’ into action,” he said.
“General public lands advocacy, human impacts on critical habitat like wintering grounds and migration corridors, and holistic, multi-stakeholder approaches to ecosystem health from Wilderness to wildland urban interface are areas of particular interest for me,” he added. Blake lives outside Ignacio with his pup and partner (who harvested her first deer last fall).
Additional BHA/Colorado BHA Information:
- Colorado BHA Corporate Partners; Hunting For Sustainability (H4S).
- BHA’s Public Waters Access campaign; BHA’s Public Comment Guide.
- BHA’s Armed Forces Initiative; “Armed Forces Initiative-Get Involved.”
- BHA’s Collegiate Program.
- Backcountry Journal (Spring 2022); (Winter 2022); (Fall 2021); (Summer 2021)).
- BHA National Policy Updates (March 2022); (February 2022); (January 2022).
- BHA Chapter Policy Updates (March 2022); (February 2022); (January 2022).
- Colorado BHA Habitat Watch Volunteer (HWV) program information.
- “BHA State Chapter Development (Recruiting/Retaining Leaders & Avoiding Burnout).” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 6/1/21.
- “Empowering Leaders: It’s In BHA’s DNA.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 1/7/21.
- “Where Hope Lives: A Brief BHA History.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/30/20.
- “We Are Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/2/21.
- Check out our Take Action Center and stay engaged on legislation in your area.
- Check out BHA’s North American Action Map, tracking examples of our accomplishments as an organization across the continent.
- David “Elkheart” Petersen (founder of the first BHA state chapter, here in Colorado, and a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) books.
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. With over 40,000 members spread out across all 50 states and 13 Canadian provinces and territories—including chapters in 48 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. Since the Colorado BHA chapter was founded by David Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) in 2005 (the first official BHA chapter), they’ve grown their boots-on-the-ground presence to some 2,000 dedicated hunters and anglers.