The Colorado chapter of Backcountry Hunters & Anglers recently appointed Eric Lomas to serve as a Habitat Watch Volunteer (HWV) for the Pike National Forest.

Eric was born in southern California and moved to Colorado after first grade. “I grew up in Littleton and really developed a love for the outdoors living here along the Front Range,” he said. “My dad hunted with his dad growing up and passed on that love to me and my brothers.” “My dad and my grandpa were/are my main hunting mentors,” Eric added. “They taught me a lot about gun safety, respect for wildlife and gratitude for the opportunity/gift of hunting and fishing.”

He mostly hunts big and small game. “I grew up hunting geese here, but don’t really do much waterfowl hunting anymore,” Eric said. “I first went elk hunting when I was 13 years old and the bug has only gotten worse over the years.” He also hunts mule deer with his brothers and dad. Eric started fishing, with his wife, after they moved to Memphis, Tennessee, for a few years. “I enjoy fishing for anything that’ll bite for me, but I’m not proficient enough to be too discriminating at this point,” he explained.

Eric is an oral surgeon and works in Castle Rock, Wheat Ridge and Parker. He went to college in Omaha, Nebraska, at Creighton University after graduating from Regis Jesuit High School in Colorado. After Creighton, he completed a one-year residency in Long Beach, California, before completing an oral surgery residency in Memphis and moving his family back to Colorado.

They currently live in Castle Rock. “I really enjoy exploring the different wilderness areas around our state and am still settling into finding some favorite places,” Eric said. He hunts with a rifle and compound bow but is most experienced with a rifle. “I heard about BHA after listening to different podcasts centered around conservation and, after doing a little research and talking with other members, I joined,” he added.

“I am constantly amazed by the breadth and depth of hunting, angling and life experiences that BHA members bring to the wildlands and wildlife conservation table,” Colorado BHA co-chair David Lien (a former Air Force officer) said. “This diversity combined with unequaled commitment is a strength that can’t be easily quantified or replicated. We are lucky to have volunteers like Eric and all the other Colorado BHA Habitat Watch Volunteers! We need many more like them across the country and continent.”

Colorado BHA has over 40 Habitat Watch Volunteers serving as our “eyes and ears” in all eleven Colorado national forests. Contact HWV Program Coordinator Don Holmstrom ([email protected]) for additional information. Also see: Colorado BHA Habitat Watch Volunteer (HWV) program information.

Additional BHA/Colorado BHA Information:

• Colorado BHA Corporate Partners.
• Hunting For Sustainability (H4S).
• BHA’s Public Waters Access campaign.
• BHA’s Collegiate Program. Collegiate Quarterly: (December 2020); (October 2020).
• Backcountry Journal (Spring 2021); (Winter 2021); (Fall 2020); (Summer 2020).
• Backcountry Beat (February 2021); (January 2021); (November 2020); (October 2020).
• BHA’s Armed Forces Initiative. “Armed Forces Initiative-Get Involved.”
• “Where Hope Lives: A Brief BHA History.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 11/30/20.
• “Empowering Leaders: It’s In BHA’s DNA.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 1/7/21.
• “We Are Backcountry Hunters & Anglers.” Backcountry Hunters & Anglers: 3/2/21.
• Check out our Take Action Center and follow along with your local chapter to stay engaged on good and bad bills in your area.
• David “Elkheart” Petersen (founder of the first BHA state chapter, here in Colorado, and a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot) books: www.davidpetersenbooks.com

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 2,500 dedicated hunters and anglers.