The Colorado Backcountry Hunters & Anglers (BHA) chapter appointed Brittany Parker to serve on the chapter Board/Executive Leadership Team (ELT).

Brittany was born and raised in Rifle, Colorado. She started fishing with her dad when she could hold a rod but discovered hunting later in life. Now she hunts everything from elk, turkeys, pronghorn, and waterfowl. Britt currently lives in Eagle, Colorado, and works for the Eagle County Open Space and Natural Resources Department as the Conservation Project Manager.

Before her role with Eagle County she worked for Backcountry Hunters & Anglers as the Colorado Stewardship Coordinator and then the Habitat Stewardship Manager where she helped to enhance and grow the organization’s stewardship program. When it’s not hunting season she’s out looking for critters, fishing, advocating for “our wild public lands, water, and wildlife,” and reading books or surfing and paddling rivers.

“I have a passion for land and wildlife conservation,” Brittany explained. “Doug Duren’s saying, It’s not ours, it’s just our turn has become a mantra and informs how I engage with and advocate for the land. I hope, in my role on BHA’s Colorado Executive Leadership Team, I can continue to advocate on behalf of the hunting community and our wild public lands, waters, and wildlife to ensure it exists for enjoyment and enhancement of future generations.”

Brittany also contributed a story to/for the Winter 2022 Backcountry Journal (“Cutting Out The Middleman”) where she details some of her motivations for hunting. “I’ve spent my life trying to get closer to nature, trying to close the gap between the human world and the natural world, never able to build a bridge long enough and not understanding why, until now,” she wrote.[1]

“All these years nature was a source of pleasure, while the grocery store was a source of sustenance. I knew I was never going to bridge that gap without cutting out that middleman … Pulling the blade from its sheath I grab the deer’s hide … My knife pierces the skin, and we begin breaking down the animal—cutting out the middleman piece by piece.”[2]

Some of Britt’s favorite books include Arctic Dreams Barry Lopez; A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold; Animal Dialogues by Craig Childs; Desert Solitaire by Edward Abbey; Wild New World by Dan Flores; Encounters with the Archdruid by John Mcphee. For additional examples of books every hunter-conservationist should read Britt recommends BHA’s Jim Posewitz Digital Library: Required Reading For Conservationists.

“Britt is the type of selfless leader every hunter-angler-conservation group or any other organization hopes to find,” Colorado BHA Co-Chair David Lien said. “She first volunteered as a Colorado BHA chapter leader during 2021 went on to spearhead multiple initiatives addressing, for example, the impacts of trails-based recreation on wildlife and raising awareness about the proposed Unita Basin Railway Project. During 2023 Britt joined the National BHA team/staff and we’re excited to have her return to a leadership role with the Colorado BHA chapter. Wildlands and wildlife need many more like her!”

Additional/Related Information

-Brittany Parker. “CO Wildlife Management 101.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/21/24.
-Thomas Plank. “Three elevated to key front line roles at BHA.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/15/23.
-Backcountry Hunters & Anglers Podcast & Blast Ep. 165 (9/26/23). “Hal joins Britt Parker, BHA’s habitat stewardship coordinator in Colorado, and Devon O’Dea, BHA California coordinator, to talk about the latest projects.”
-Katie McKalip. “Inside the Summer Issue of BHA’s Backcountry Journal.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 6/28/23.
-Brittany Parker. “Beers, Bands, and Barbed Wire Strands Event Recap.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 6/6/23.
-Brittany Parker. “BHA Fence Removal Projects.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/8/22.
-Brittany Parker. “Dome Rock SWA Aspen Regeneration Project.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 10/12/22.
-Brittany Parker. “Public Lands Day Stewardship Recap in Colorado.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 9/29/22.
-Brittany Parker. “CO BHA Oak Ridge SWA Fence Removal Project.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 9/8/22.
-Editor(s). “Clean up, everywhere [w/BHA’s Brittany Parker].” The Herald-Times: 8/1/22.
-Brittany Parker. “CO BHA Comments On Uinta Basin Railway Project.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 2/14/22.
-Brittany Parker. “Trails Based Recreation And Its Impacts On Wildlife.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 1/31/22.
-Brittany Parker. “Cutting Out The Middleman.” Backcountry Journal: Winter 2022.
-“The Jim Posewitz Digital Library: Required Reading For Conservationists.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 4/3/20.
-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. With 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. The Colorado BHA chapter was founded by David Petersen (a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) in 2005 (the first official BHA chapter)

[1] Brittany Parker. “Cutting Out The Middleman.” Backcountry Journal: Winter 2022, p. 63.

[2] Brittany Parker. “Cutting Out The Middleman.” Backcountry Journal: Winter 2022, p. 63.