Seth Trokey, Co-Chair

Seth grew up in rural Southwestern Illinois and has been hunting and fishing his entire life. Growing up in rural IL helped fuel his passion for the out-of-doors from an early age. Seth started hunting public land in college when he attended Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. The fact that SIUC was surrounded by Shawnee National Forest, the biggest chunk of public land in IL, his eyes were truly opened to the treasures that are our public lands and waters.

While hunting Shawnee, Seth got his first taste of the trials, tribulations and triumphs of what our public lands have to offer. His earliest memory of the concept of conservation came at about age 5 while mushroom hunting morels with his dad. Seth’s dad said 8 words that were the catalyst for his love for conservation of our wild places and spending as much time as possible outdoors.

Seth is a crew leader, certified pipeline welder, and equipment operator for the biggest utility company in IL.

Drew Kazenski, Co-Chair

Drew Kazenski grew up in rural central Illinois and was raised from the beginning with a deep understanding and respect for hunting, fishing and conservation.  As an avid hiker, hunter and fly fisherman; he has had whitetails make him tremble in Illinois, chased Merriam turkeys in South Dakota, and landed West-slope Cutthroats in Montana, all due to public land and conservation efforts before him.  Drew believes if you are consuming or taking you should do some part to give back, one of his reasons for joining BHA.  Drew encourages everyone to find away to give back to the land we all consume from.

Currently, Drew still resides in central Illinois with his wife and golden retriever enjoying their passion for the outdoors.

Skylar Paul, Secretary

Skylar was born and raised in a small fishing community on the coast of Alaska’s Kenai Peninsula. It was here that he learned to appreciate wild places and all the valuable resources that they can provide. Moving to Southern Illinois for college and to help work on the family farm taught him the importance of all land and how important it is to protect these resources. Currently Skylar spends his free time passing on this care of the land through his career in agriculture and by teaching his young children the importance of having wild places. He is excited to bring this passion to the Illinois BHA to help conserve and protect our public lands and waters.

Greg Legan, Board of Directors

Raised in a small farming community in east central Illinois, Greg is a lifelong upland game and waterfowl hunter (and later life fly fisherman).

A former director of the Illinois Conservation Foundation, Greg has been active for over 30 years in local and national efforts to raise funds and material support for programs that promote the safe and ethical use of the outdoors by young people. He is particularly excited about assisting BHA efforts to promote fair chase.

He currently chairs the Jackson County Natural Resources Economic Development Board and serves on the Kinkaid-Reeds Creek Conservancy District and the Shawnee Resource Conservation & Development Area Council.

Greg and his wife Peggy have three adult children and reside in southern Illinois.

Ben Richards, Board of Directors

Ben was born in rural northeast IL, Lake County. Where he was raised fishing and hunting right out of the front door. Those lands north of Chicago have all been turned into business parks and subdivisions which drives Ben’s passion for conservation and access to public lands. Ben was a program director of a conservation corps where he oversaw 88,000 hours of national service annually. Now Ben works in the public sector in community development. With those positions, Ben has developed skills in advocacy and grants to fight for public lands.

Ben has done numerous trips to DC and Springfield advocating for those causes. Ben was an elected park district commissioner and served two terms as president of the board. Ben and his wife still live in Lake County, near Gurnee. They have an adult daughter, two sons in college and one son in high school. All three of their sons are Eagle Scouts. Ben has mentored many Eagle Scouts and been a merit badge counselor for citizenship and fishing/flyfishing merit badges. Ben enjoys flyfishing and turkey hunting.

Peter Skosey, Board of Directors

As a lifelong Chicagoan, Peter’s love of nature and the outdoors may seem misplaced. But, like most BHA members, he enjoys a wide array of activities including hunting, fishing, birdwatching, hiking and boating.

Peter is also an amateur cook and gets great satisfaction serving tasty wild game to his friends and family. Being able to share his passion with others and offer his experience as a non-profit executive and private sector lobbyist to the mission of BHA drives his service to the Illinois chapter. 

Jason Haff, Board of Directors

Growing up with roots in north central Illinois, Jason has had passion for the outdoors since he was able to take his first breath. He enjoys long river trips, big flatheads, pointing dogs, big bucks and chasing turkeys. Growing up in the Chicagoland area, Jason has always sought out whatever wilderness he could find. With those adventures came challenges, and challenging yourself to do what most people don’t is what drives Jason.

Jason pairs his love for the outdoors with his love for photography and design. With a career in design and branding - he is eager to lend his skills to help promote BHA’s missions through design and education.

 Click here to contact the Illinois chapter board.