Ed Rebman, Co-Chair (Southwest Idaho)
Ed grew up in Michigan hunting, fishing and backpacking from an early age. After discovering the mountains during westerly vacations, Ed and his wife Lisa moved to Idaho in 2014. They picked Idaho specifically because of the available public land opportunities. Ed enjoys hunting for elk, deer and grouse, and backpacking to trout fishing locations. Ed and Lisa spend much of their leisure time hiking and snowshoeing with their dogs on public land.
Don Carpenter, Co-Chair (East Idaho)
Don grew up in central New York State, and migrated to the Teton area in the early nineties. He now lives with his wife and son on the west slope of the Tetons. Don has always had a passion for backcountry travel as a means for exploration of wild places. This exploration has taken him to remote corners of the world, but he especially enjoys spending time outdoors near home in Teton Valley. Through elk hunting, Don found an even stronger connection to wild places in the Greater Yellowstone ecosystem. He is grateful for the many opportunities to spend time outdoors, locally and afar, with his wife and son.
Melissa Hendrickson, Co-Chair (North Idaho)
Melissa grew up in Northern Maine ice fishing, tagging along with her father grouse hunting, biking, and generally spending a lot of time outdoors. She didn’t start hunting herself until after moving to Idaho for work in 2014. Melissa is a former public lands hydrologist who specialized in large scale watershed restoration for cutthroat trout. She is currently the outdoor coordinator and personal wild game chef for her son. They, along with her husband Jamie and bird dog Rosie, live in Sandpoint and can be found dabbling in pretty much every kind of hunting and fishing. When she isn’t taking her toddler on hunting or fishing adventures, she enjoys skiing, writing, making videos about past exploits, and planning future outings.
Steve Gale, Board Member (Treasurer)
Steve grew up on a dairy farm south of Meridian and has lived in Idaho all his life enjoying fishing and hunting with family and friends, and now relishes the time spent with his grandkids in the great outdoors. His son John (BHA Conservation director) introduced him and his wife Debbie to BHA about 8 years ago and they have been involved since that time. BHA appealed to Steve because of its support of multiple use of our public lands and the desire to increase access and promote conservation. Retired after 42 years working in management at Lactalis Cheese factory in Nampa Idaho, he now finds more enjoyment spending time in the outdoor environments while hunting and fishing than the actual harvest.
Vacant, Secretary: Apply Here!
Ariel Foster, Board Member (Membership, Events & Fundraising Committee Chair)
Ariel was born and raised in Idaho in a hunting and fishing family, her parents are avid hunters and fisherman who passed their passion onto her and her siblings. She found BHA through a bumper sticker while stuck in Boise traffic and feels like she has truly found her people in BHA. While living in Alaska she reached out to the Alaska chapter to build friendships and network with many people across the state that helped build her confidence in hunting and fishing in Alaska. Ariel now lives in Southwest Idaho with her young daughter and continues to pass on the lessons and passion for the outdoors to her daughter. Ariel works in public health advocacy currently is passionate about bringing healthcare to rural areas of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. On the weekends, Ariel is typically out hiking, rafting, or spending time in the outdoors with her family and their dogs. She is very excited to be a part of a great group of people and can’t wait to meet more members of the Idaho BHA Chapter at events and through our chapter communications.
Nate Collins, Board Member (Policy Committee Chair)
Nate was essentially raised on the public lands of North Idaho. Nearly all his life has been spent exploring the mountains, fly-fishing for native trout, prowling the woods for deer and elk, and shredding powder in the winter. This life-long love of the outdoors is what led him to advocate for our public lands, waters, and wildlife that inhabit them. Nate now lives in Boise, ID with his wife, son, and two dogs and works in habitat restoration and climate action.
Barry Johnson, Board Member (Stewardship Committee Chair)-
Lauren Melink, Board Member (Communications Committee Chair) -
Lauren Melink is a Pacific Northwest native, growing up in a small town in Western Washington. Lauren spent several years living in Central Oregon, where she became immersed in trail running, backpacking, and mountain biking. After moving to Idaho in 2019, Lauren took up hunting when she realized it combined the best parts of all her passions: public lands, early morning sunrises, adventure, plus wild game meat. As an outdoor documentary producer, Lauren has developed an enormous appreciation for Idaho's vast public lands and the benefits they provide to both people and wildlife.
Regional Reps & Chapter Supported Clubs
Committed BHA members who monitor and report on important BHA-related issues, opportunities and threats in their area of the state.
Region 1 (Panhandle) - Rome Fiore, Jeremy Brown
Region 2 (Clearwater) - Paul Arman, Ty Thompson, Kat Petersen, Jacob Young
Region 3 (Southwest) - Mike Lipps, Jeff Abrams, Zach Cuddy, Mark Wilson
Region 4 (Magic Valley) - Josh Wilson
Region 5 (Southeast) - Vacant - Interested in this position? Click here to submit your application!
Region 6 (Upper Snake) - Jeff Klausmann, Dan Flathau
Region 7 (Salmon) - Jessica French
University of Idaho - Kassie Yeager, Club President
Boise State University - Demeon Mason-Simonson, Club President
Sean Carriere, Special Advisor
Sean lives in Middleton, Idaho with his wife Lisa and two daughters Maria and Rebecca. Sean works in the high tech industry but spends his free time hunting, fishing, and camping throughout Idaho and the US. He enjoys introducing his daughters to the joys of the outdoor lifestyle. A member of a number of wildlife organizations, and a former Vice President and Board Member of the Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation, Sean has a long history of working for our wildlife, habitat, and land so we can pursue our passions.
Jeff Barney, Special Advisor
Jeff Barney served as the Idaho chapter secretary for the first 9 years of the Idaho chapter's existence. Jeff turned over his official board duties in early 2020 but remains an active contributor to the Idaho BHA chapter. Jeff became involved to help protect public access and to stand against those interests attempting to eliminate public lands.
Jeff enjoys bird hunting (especially for chukars), bow hunting, fly fishing for trout and steelhead, trail running and wildlife photography. He also serves on his local Trout Unlimited chapter board and works as a state park ranger.
Click here to contact the Idaho Chapter Board